


Always In My Thoughts

by Lexiepexie08



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Made For Each Other, Sharing thoughts, Slow Burn, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 46,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexiepexie08/pseuds/Lexiepexie08
Summary: In an alternate MCU universe where soulmates can hear each others thoughts since the day they are born. And once they meet it's like the force bond between Rey and Kylo Ren where they can see each other even when they aren't in the same room.
Relationships: Clint Barton/ Original Female Character, Clint Barton/Reader, Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Reader, natasha romanoff/ reader
Comments: 42
Kudos: 203





	1. Chapter 1

It all started on a day like any other… Actually it was a really boring day. I was practically falling asleep. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the double shift I had pulled the night before at my second job, the fact that I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours because I had a paper due, or the fact that the normally packed coffee shop was empty. I was alone. Well as alone as I could be with his voice in my head.

_‘I could kill for a cup of coffee right now.’ He thought._

_‘Have you had anything but coffee today?’ I thought back._

_‘You should be asleep.’ He retorted._

_‘You’re one to talk.’ I said._

I sighed knowing he was right. Either way I was at the register leaning on my elbow looking down at the blurring words in my borrowed textbook when someone cleared their throat.

“Just a sec.” I said.

“Advanced quantum mecha….” He started and I put up a finger signaling him to wait. As soon as I finished, I turned the page, put my bookmark in and closed my book putting it aside.

“Thank you for waiting, what can I get you sir?” I said.

“Well… you.” He said. “but since you’re already behind the counter I could go for a double espresso.”

_‘Great another rich asshole.’ I thought._

_‘You can always spit in his coffee, or spill it on him if he’s a really big asshole?’ He thought._

“I do have the right to refuse service.” I said.

_‘This old guy just hit on me.’ I thought._

_‘Spill the coffee, definitely spill the coffee on him.’ He thought._

“Do you know who I am?” he said slipping off his sunglasses. “I’m….”

“Tony Stark.” I said finishing his sentence. “I know, doesn’t make you any less creepy.”

“Okay, maybe that did come out wrong.” Tony said. “But if you’re…”

“I’m sixteen.” I deadpanned.

“Nevermind. Maybe we should start over.” Tony suggested.

“Or you could go before I call the cops or TMZ and tell them you were propositioning a minor?” I offered.

_‘Tell me his name I can shoot him for you.’ He said._

_‘Why is shooting people always your go to?’ I said._

“No No! Look I’m here to talk to you about this.” He said offering me his phone to show me an article of the robotics and engineering competition I won weeks ago. It wasn’t every day a former foster kid, now emancipated minor won a huge competition with something she made out of junkyard scraps. “You are that Riley Sloane right?”

“Yeah… it’ll be 4.25.” I said and he just stared at me. “For the espresso?”

“Oh right.” He said taking out his wallet and pulling out a crisp hundred dollar bill. “Keep the change I don’t like to jingle.”

“Oh-kay…” I said taking the money. “Thank you. Your name will be called out when your order is ready.”

“Does this mean we can talk…” he started.

“I’m working.” I said. Tony looked around at the empty café.

“I think the place will be fine if you take a couple minutes. Or you can just quit. You’re probably going to end up quitting anyway.” Tony said.

“I haven’t won the lottery yet and I still have to pay rent so I doubt that.” I said.

“Nothing I can’t solve.” He said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes but went to get his coffee.

_‘Double espresso small cup, two shot glasses one on each marked spot. Mhmm freshly ground Italian espresso beans…’ I thought with a smile._

_‘Stoooop.’ He whined._

“Double espresso for the creepy old guy having a midlife crisis?” I said.

“Midlife crisis?” Tony said.

“You’re the one wearing that jacket.” I said. Tony looked down at himself. “And hitting on baristas that are less than half your age.”

“Fair point.” Tony said. “What was your base code?”

“Python.” I said.

“Why not C++ or Java?” Tony said.

“Too easy, and it would’ve been too long and would have made the whole system lag.” I said.

“Why not do a bypass?” he asked.

“Tried that but when it compressed the code…” I started.

“Cut everything off and left a jumbled mess.” Tony said. “Ran into problem when I was building Dummy and U.”

“Dummy and U?” I asked confused.

“Old school projects. They worked well enough and they’re still around.” He said. “Though I’m probably going to end up scrapping them one of these days. You’re looked better though a bit more beat up.”

“I made do with what I had.” I said.

“Scraps.” He said.

“Better than nothing.” I answered as I wiped the counter.

“What time do you get off?” Tony asked.

“You’re being a creepy old man again.” I said.

_‘I think Tony Stark is trying to proposition me.’ I said._

_‘What?’ He said._

“Would you stop with that?” He said.

“What would you do if you were sixteen and some old lady showed up randomly where you worked, started hitting on you and asking you at what time you left to kidnap you somewhere?” I said.

“Well first off I wouldn’t be working, I’m pretty well off…” Tony started.

“Mister Stark…” I started.

“Tony.” He corrected. “Mister Stark is my dad and uh..”

“Tony, this is just… no, just no.” I said.

“You haven’t even heard my offer.” Tony said.

“But I have heard of stranger danger.” I retorted.

“Kid, I’m trying to give you a job you know so you don’t have to cram in quantum mechanics in between serving people coffee.” Tony said.

“And what exactly is this job?” I asked.

“Well uh… you’d be my lab assistant slash intern. You know learn on the job maybe get me some coffee when I need it. So like my personal barista but I pay really well and you make a mean cup of coffee.” Tony said. “You know I’m hearing myself right now and I can see why you’re calling me creepy. Maybe we should start from the beginning you know with your parents around.”

“I don’t have parents and I have a test to cram for so feel free to go when you’re done or now.” I said.

“Kid, Riley.” Tony said. “Okay I probably should have brought Pepper she’s better at this sort of thing. But honestly you should be honored I rarely do this myself.”

“To a coffee shop?” I said still confused.

“No… well yes but that’s not why I’m here. I’m here for you. You’re a genius and I don’t throw that term around often.” Tony said. “I read your report, looked over your work and it’s better than all the post grads we hire. It’s almost as good as yours truly. I want you to come work for me, Be my intern.”

“Do you have any idea how insane you sound right now?” I said.

“When you’re rich I think the term is eccentric. I’m sure there are a lot of perks to working here but you sure look a lot happier building robots” Tony said flipping his phone over to see the photo of me smiling with my science project. “Than… here. Imagine working in a lab with everything you could ever need within your reach, all the cool toys, an engineer and coder’s Candyland.”

“Sounds like a nice dream.” I said.

“The dreams about twenty minutes away that way” Tony said pointing down the street. “I’m actually heading there right now. I could give you a tour?”

“I have work.” I said.

“Yeah, down the street.” Tony said. “Come on. You know you want to…”

_‘I think I might be going crazy.’ I thought._

_‘It’s probably cause you haven’t slept.’ He said._

_‘So it’s not a good idea to walk out and get in the car with a crazy billionaire who’s offering me what could be my dream job?’ I said._

_‘The same billionaire that hit on you?’ He asked._

_‘Yeah, he’s staring at me waiting for an answer.’ I answered._

_‘He must really want to recruit you.’ He said._

_‘Looks like, I think he’s serious.’ I said._

_‘You want to do it?’ He said._

_‘Kind of but it’s crazy right?’ I said._

_‘No but he might be. Just be careful.’ He said._

“I have a quantum mechanics midterm at four I’m not going to miss.” I told Tony.

“I’ll drop you off on time myself. Promise.” Tony said.

“Let me lock up.” I said.

“I’ll be here.” He said smiling.

Ten minutes Later I was all set to go. Sitting in the back of a… I’m not a hundred percent sure what type of car it was. It was black and there was a B on the seats. Tony’s driver Happy was in the driver’s seat while we were in the back. Tony was on his phone and I was just staring out the window.

Once we pulled up to the Stark industries Campus main gate. Apparently they had their own jet propulsion lab. Shouldn’t be surprised considering they were the country’s biggest weapons manufacturer.

“You going to love this.” Tony said as we walked into the lab. “Ta da…”

“A missile?” I said.

“Not just any missile. Top of the line Maverick 2.0.” Tony said. “Pretty neat huh?”

“It’s… big.” I said not knowing what I was supposed to say.

_‘That’s what she said.’ He said._

I coughed to cover up a snort I let out hearing that.

_‘Don’t make me laugh.’ I said._

“Brand New double jet propulsion system. The first one launches it then…” He started.

“Palladium chain reaction in the center chamber sets off the second one.” I said looking at the blueprints. “Is it on a timer?

“No, This is a new type of missile. It’s not supposed to kill on impact, in fact if you see it on the field you’d probably think it’s a dud. The second explosions shoots out shrapnel neutralizes threats before they even knows what hits them.” He said.

“And every civilian that’s unlucky enough to be in the area.” I said.

“You’re one of those.” Tony said.

“You mean a realist who knows the world isn’t just black and white.” I said. “Then yes.”

“We help take out terrorists.” Tony said. “We keep our country safe.”

“I’m sure if you ask the ‘terrorists’ what they’re doing they’d say the same thing.” I said looking closer at the flight propulsion system. “You ever think about putting that propulsion system in a plane?”

“It would sure cut down on flight time.” He said.

“Yeah, if people have the stomach for it.” I said.

“We should stop by the biomed division, haven’t checked in for a while.” Tony said.

“Tony…” Someone called out.

“We should go now. Fast.” Tony said putting an arm around me and rushing me out of there.

“Why?” I asked confused.

“Because I’ve been ignoring my assistant’s calls.” He said as we ran down the hallway and quickly into another hanger.

“Hey what’s that?” I said looking at a huge metal glowing thing that took up half the room.

“That is the arc reactor.” Tony said. “It’s some old tech, alternative energy source my old man made back in the seventies.”

“How does it work?” I asked.

“Uh some magnets, it’s not that great.” He said.

“Alternative energy? Are you kidding that’s the future.” I said.

“It isn’t cost effective.” Tony said.

“So you’ve tried working on it?” I said going to read the plaque that was in front of it.

“That’s not… I have more important things to work on. The arc reactor is a dead end.” He said. “You should see our itellicrops. Imagine crops resistant to drought. We could end world hunger.”

“Tony!” Pepper shouted.

“Pepper! I was just…” he started.

“Missing all of your meetings?!” She said.

“No, just missing all the meetings I didn’t want to go to. I’m actually in a meeting right now.” Tony said.

“Oh no.” Pepper said as she saw me. “Tony she’s a kid!”

“Not that type of meeting.” Tony said.

“He did hit on me though.” I said.

“I was kidding.” He said.

“You can’t do that to a kid and you brought her to the lab, it’s not safe!” Pepper said.

“She’s actually going to be working here.” Tony said.

“Maybe.” I said.

“What?” Tony said. “I thought…”

“I still deciding.” I said.

“Excuse us for a minute.” Pepper said giving me a polite smile before they stepped out.

_‘They’re totally a thing.’ I said._

_‘Who’s a thing?’ He asked._

_‘Tony Stark and his assistant.’ I answered._

_‘So you’re taking the job?’ He asked._

_‘Not sure how comfortable I feel helping build weapons of mass destruction.’ I said. ‘I like building things not blowing things up.’_

_‘It’s a good opportunity for you to learn. You’re always complaining about how easy school is.’ He said._

“Hey kid, this area’s off limits.” An older man in a suit said.

“I’m just waiting for someone.” I said. “He had to step out for a sec.”

“Did that dumbass Silberstein not get the memo about bringing your kid to work day not happening?” He said.

“I don’t know who that is.” I said. “I’m just waiting for Tony.”

“Tony? Tony Stark? Uh how much is he paying you?” He said.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Come on, do you charge by the hour?” he said.

“I’m sixteen jackass.” I said.

“Oh great a minor.” He said annoyed taking out his wallet. “Look here’s a thousand dollars keep your mouth shut. Take it.”

“No.” I said.

“I said take it!” He said forcing the money into my hand. As he tried to drag me out. “And go.”

“What the hell?” I said. “Hey.”

“Obie.” Tony said.

“Tony.” Obadiah said and it was like he flipped a switch. He let go of my arm immediately. “What a surprise I thought you’d be working on the Maverick?”

“Oh that done already. I was just showing Riley around.” Tony said. “She’s going to be working here.”

“Sh-she is?” Obadiah choked out.

“She’s not.” I said.

“What?” Tony said.

“Thanks for the tour but I don’t think this would be a good fit. This place reeks of entitlement and warmongering and I’m not a fan of suits.” I said shooting Obadiah a glare.

“But…” He started.

“I’m sorry about earlier can I have…” Obadiah started.

“Finders keepers.” I said walking out.

“Kid wait I’ll give you a ride.” Tony called out.

“I’ll take a cab.” I said not bothering to look back.

Meeting Tony was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me I just didn’t know it yet.


	2. Chapter 2

_‘You okay?’ He asked me._

_‘Well I’m definitely going to wake up with a bruise on my arm tomorrow but yeah.’ I said._

_‘Give me his name, I’ll put an arrow in his head.’ He said._

_‘Seriously dude, you always jump to straight to shooting people. Though seeing an arrow through his bald head would be nice. But no, don’t want you in prison though.’ I said._

_‘I wouldn’t get caught. Pretty sure I can get Nat onboard to help.’ He said._

_‘Not happening but thanks for offering.’ I said. ‘Thought you’d be asleep by now, isn’t it the middle of the night in… Prague?’_

_‘Not in Prague.’ He said. ‘I’m just jetlagged.’_

_‘Heard that could be a bitch.’ I said. ‘Want me to read you my quantum mechanics textbook? That always puts me to sleep?’_

_‘Sure read me a fun chapter.’ He said. I took out my book and read flipped to the page I had left off._

_‘The basis of modern conception of the world consists of the theory of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. Both largely inconsistent but suitable for the analysis of experimental data.’ I said._

I could already feel him starting to mellow out as he drifted off to sleep.

The rest of the day flew by. I took my test, studied a bit for my other class before going to work at the donut shop. I had my first day off in a month the following day so when I finally got home at one in the morning I faceplanted into my lumpy loud creaking mattress. Then center of the bed frame caved in half and the mattress caved downward. A couple of the springs popped out and I felt it poke me in the back and side.

_“Uh…” I groaned._

_‘Maybe I should use baldy’s hush money to buy a new bed.’ I thought._

_‘Hush money?’ He said sounding a bit groggy._

_‘Yeah jackass thought I was a hooker.’ I said._

_‘Sure you don’t want me to shoot him?’ He said._

_‘Mhm…’ I thought. ‘So bed? Mine just crapped out on me, and stabbed me. Actually I might have to put some of that aside for a tetanus shot.’_

_‘I could get you a discount on the tetanus shot, I’m one away from a free one.” He said making me laugh. “get some sleep.”_

_‘Going, going… zzz.’ I said drifting off to sleep._

**The Following Morning…**

I woke up to some annoying knocking.

“Uh….” I groaned feeling some pain in my back.

The neighbors must’ve made up again. I sat up before falling back. Right my bed broke. I slept in an awkward bent banana pose.

The thumping continued.

“For fuck sake he cheated on you with your sister and hasn’t stopped!” I shouted. The noise stopped immediately. “Thank you.”

Then someone started knocking at my door.

‘One day, all I ask is for one day a month but no….’ I thought.

‘I know the feeling.’ He said.

‘Sorry.’ I said.

‘Wasn’t you. Together on three?’ he said.

“Okay. One.” I started.

“Two.” He said.

“Three.” We said at the same time. I twisted myself into the hole my bed had sunk me into but I over twisted and fell over the side of my bed and hit my head on the nightstand before my ass hit the floor.

“Ah!” I cried out before there was another knock on the door. “Just a minute. OW…”

I got up and went to open the door with the chain lock still on.

“What?” I said.

“Morning sunshine.” Tony said looking really out of place in his designer suit that was probably worth half a year if not a whole year’s rent standing in my building that would probably be cheaper to tear down than bring up to code.

“Tony.” I said with a glare.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” He said.

_‘You don’t know the half of it.’ I thought._

“Are you going to invite me in? You know before the giant yellow boa gives up on the roach covered rat and tries to eat me?” Tony said.

“Charlie’s a sweetie.” I said smiling. “Just don’t let him get around you he tends to hug people and not let them go.”

“You’re joking right?” He said and I closed the door before undoing the chain and letting him in. Of course that’s when that stupid rat I had put traps out for scurried out of the apartment walking over Tony’s foot with a glue trap stuck to its side.

Tony shut the door trying not to give away how freaked out he was. He looked around my one room apartment. By one room I meant it was just the one room. In one corner was a kitchenette. There was a foldable individual table that doubled as my dining room table and my desk a plastic drawer and an old milk crate with my stuff piled onto it and a bathtub and toilet in the middle of the room.

“Uh you know there’s a tub in the middle of your living roo…” he started before he looked around.

“That’s the bathroom.” I said.

“This is the whole apartment.” Tony said realizing why the layout was so… small.

“It’s nice…” He said lying through his teeth.

“No it’s not.” I said.

“No it’s not… okay have you had breakfast yet?” Tony said. “We should go get breakfast. I know a place, a nice place far far away from here. My treat.”

“I’m not taking the job Tony.” I said.

“Look I know Obie came off a bit….” He started.

“Pretentious, douchey, an all around dick?” I offered.

“Strong but he was just looking out for me. I tend to not always make the best decisions and it’s part of his job and Pepper’s to clean up my messes.” Tony said. “He didn’t know you were coming to work for us.”

“I’m not going to work for you.” I said.

“Riley can you just give me another chance.” Tony said. “Or at least let me buy you breakfast to apologize for yesterday?”

_‘He wants to buy me breakfast.’ I said._

_“Aw lucky, all I got was cold coffee and half a bagel.” He answered_

_“I think I’d rather sleep.’ I said._

_“It’s a free breakfast, with bacon. I really want bacon.” He said._

_“Uh you’re making me hungry.” I said._

_“Then go get breakfast.” He said. “And get bacon, lots and lots of bacon.’_

_“I’m going to have to listen to him go on and on about why I should work for him.” I said._

_“You know you want the job so just take it.” He said._

_‘And have to put up with douchebags like that asshole from yesterday?” I answered._

_“There are assholes everywhere. Look you hate your jobs and you should, you’re smart as hell and can do so much more, he’ll probably pay you better than either of your jobs do.” He said. “And you really need a new place.”_

_“This place isn’t so bad.” I said._

_“It’s infested with rats and there’s a boa in the hallway.” He deadpanned._

_“The problem solves itself.” I said._

_“You’re not going to lose anything by hearing him out, in fact you get a free breakfast out of it.” He said._

“Fine. Breakfast that’s it.” I said.

“Sure…” Tony said.

“And there better be bacon. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.” I said.

“You bet.” Tony said staring at me for a minute. “Are you gonna…”

I looked down at my light blue shorts and the oversized hand me down school gym clothes my last foster mom got me.

“Yeah.” I said quickly going to grab the first top and jeans out of my pile of things and then jumping into the tub and pulling the curtain closed since there wasn’t anywhere else to change. Once I was done I jumped out and went to put on some shoes.

“So how’d you find this place?” Tony said.

“Pennysaver listing.” I said. “It was cheap.”

“Really I wonder why?” Tony said staring at my bed. “That can’t be comfortable.”

“No.” I said. “Are we going?”

“Yeah.” He said quickly leading me out.

Once we were outside we went straight to his car where his driver and I guess body guard was hovering around the car. This time it was a Mercedes.

Someone was totally going to try and mug me when I got back.

It was a pretty long drive back to Malibu. Mid morning traffic in LA was hell, so was all traffic in LA. We ended up at this nice bistro with a beach view. I was really out of place in my ripped jeans and white scoop neck top.

“Okay I’ll admit the business side of things is the one downside of the job but that’s like only a tiny part of it. Like 12% tops.” He said.

“Twelve percent is what made you want to hide from your assistant?” I said.

“I was trying to wow you and give you my full and undivided attention.” Tony said. “So it might be a little more than 12% but it’s other part that really matters. I’m sure you’ve heard this before but you have a lot of potential. I mean it took me years to even put together the baseline for a rudimentary AI but you did that and combined it with a perfect working robot body. There are people that go to school for more than ten years and can’t even do half of that.”

“You’ve done it before, why do you need me?” I said.

“Did you have a lot of friends in High school? I mean did you ever have someone you could talk to about any of your projects or anyone to bounce ideas off of?” He said. “No right? Imagine designing products that sell for millions if not billions of dollars and throwing out ideas to people who are supposed to be the best at what they do and have them ask you to give them a minute so they could google what you’re talking about. That’s what I deal with everyday.”

“That is annoying.” I said.

“Yeah so instead of dealing with that I hire people, Pepper, to deal with that and when she thinks she can’t but can I hide.” He said.

“You need me to be another Pepper because I’m sure she’s great and probably likes it if she’s done it for this long but I don’t think I would.” I said.

“Oh no, that’s be waste of your time and talent.” Tony said. “I want you to work with me. Help me design and learn the business.”

“You’re… what?” I said not believing what I’m hearing.

“You would work with me. I’d mentor you, send you to school, I have connections at Caltech we could work it out, and pay you a lot of money to help me build cool stuff.” Tony said.

“This is a joke right?” I said.

“It’s not.” He said.

“This is some kind of twisted version of Punked or a prank show. Cameras are going to come out and zoom in on my reaction…” I said.

“No cameras but I kind of wish there was. This was not the reaction I was expecting.” Tony said.

“You do know how insane this sounds right.” I said.

“I’ve been told by… well everyone.” He said. “I still think it’s a good idea.”

“I don’t.” I said.

“Give me one good reason why this isn’t a good idea.” Tony said.

“I’m sixteen.” I said.

“So was I once.” He said.

“I’m totally against building weapons.” I said. “I like building things that help people not blow them up.”

“You like the jet propulsion system.” He said.

“Not if it’s for things up.” I said.

“That’s not the only thing I work on. We have a biomed division and the intellicrops.” He said.

“They’re basically GMOs.” I said.

“But I do them better.” He said.

“I hate your business partner.” I said. “He’s a dick and if I have to see him on a regular basis…”

“That’s not going to be a problem. You’d be working in my lab with me.” Tony said.

“Your lab in the same place his office is?” I said.

“What? No, I don’t work there. I just took you there to test you.” Tony said. “Passed with flying colors by the way.”

“What test?” I said.

“The missile plans? You took one look at them and knew exactly what everything was.” He said. “Actually that might be exactly what you need right now.”

“Huh?” I said confused.

We quickly finished eating and then drover to the beach, at least I thought we were going to the beach. We came up to a gate that opened up for us revealing a cliffside white mansion.

“You brought me to your house?” I said.

“I work from home.” He said leading me inside before we headed towards some stairs.

“You don’t have some secret dungeon or pit you keep people in and lower baskets of lotion a couple times a day right?” I asked.

“I’m not the serial killer from Silence of the Lambs or Hannibal Lector.” Tony said. “Good reference though.”

“I had to ask.” I said as he pressed his hand on the glass and it lit up. Then the door unlocked and we walked in.

“Jarvis lights.” Tony said.

The room lit up and I could see a fully set up lab with everything or even more than the lab at Stark Industries.

“I like to keep some toys for myself.” Tony said.

“I can see that.” I said looking at his cars.

“I was talking about this.” Tony said as a hologram projection of a round thing… comprised of codes and more codes. “Jarvis say Hi.”

“Good afternoon Miss Sloane it’s a pleasure to meet you. Sir had not stopped talking about you for days.” Jarvis said as the round thing moved.

“Is that… That’s an AI.” I said.

“Yeah, JARVIS. Just a rather very intelligent system.” He said.

“He’s British?” I said.

“He’s my Alfred.” Tony said. “Impressed yet?”

“A bit.” I said trying to play it off.

_‘Liar.’ He said._

_‘I’m trying to play it cool.’ I said making him laugh._

“He controls your lab?” I asked.

“The whole house, well all of my houses. I’m working on getting him everywhere else.” He said.

“Wow, this must be at least a thousand layers of code?” I asked.

“A thousand five hundred and forty two.” Tony said.

“You must need a server farm to keep him running.” I said.

“A small one, probably going to need a couple more later on.” He said.

“Perfectly overlapping codes and bypasses working in sync with each other.” I said taking a closer look. “Any lags?”

“A few, I’ve been updating him as they come up.” He said as a claw machine came over and started beeping. “Way better than this DUMM-E”

“Dummy? That’s Dummy?” I said. “You went from that to this?”

“Not overnight but yeah.” He said.

“You’re awesome.” I said.

“I know.” Tony said. “So did I convince you?”

“Mhmm, I have so many questions. I want to pull him apart and put him back together better than before. Uh….” I said.

“Say yes and you can.” Tony said.

“I want to but… it’s not that easy.” I said. “I have a job.”

“Call them and quit.” He said.

“And school…” I said.

“Transfer…” he said.

“And doesn’t change the fact I don’t want to build missiles and…” I started.

“You can help me with the flight system and I’ll do the parts that go boom.” Tony said. “And before you say it Obie isn’t even allowed in the lab. He doesn’t have access. The only people who do are Me, Pepper, Rhodey and now you.”

“You’re not giving me a choice.” I said.

“I’m giving you the best choice.” Tony said.

“Uh… we have to work out terms and I want them on paper.” I said.

“Whatever you want it’s yours.” He said. “Just say yes.”

“Okay. I accept the job.” I said.

“Yay, now let’s go find you a new apartment.” Tony said.

“I already have an apartment.” I said.

“You have a rat-infested closet with a boa in the hallway. I’m getting you a new place.” Tony said. “Jarvis bring up the apartment listings.”

And that’s how it all started.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony did get me out of the rat and boa infested apartment and into a two bedroom beachfront condo not too far from his house. When I asked him about rent he said that was something we’d discuss when I turned eighteen and then proceeded to ignore any and all attempts I made to bring it up again.

He pulled some strings and got me into Caltech transferring all of my credits so I was a year away from getting an engineering degree.

Working was… well it didn’t feel like work anymore. Tony didn’t really keep normal business hours. He’d party hard, go home with whoever he had met that night. I’d show up for work go straight to the coffee maker and make Pepper a latte and prep a to go cup for the guest she was in charge of ushering out before heading downstairs to the lab.

Tony would normally already be there unless he had a meeting he couldn’t ditch. When I was on my own I’d work on Jarvis or do homework. Today was one of those days.

“Okay J, look it over an tell me what you think?” I asked.

_‘You’ve looked over that thing a hundred times already.’ He said._

_‘Because if any single part of it is wrong the whole system will crash.’ I said. ‘It’d be easier if I was starting from scratch.’_

_‘But most of it is already done?’ he said._

_‘Coding’s a bit trickier than that. A single line of code is straight forward. There’s an order and it does it. An AI is thousands and thousands of lines of intersecting codes. Just when you finish one you find another line that intercepts that or runs concurrently with it so if you change one you change it all.. And every coder has their own way of putting things together depending on their own preferences or the way they learned to do it. It’s kind of like a unique signature.’_

_‘So you’re trying to forge a signature?’ He asked._

_‘In a way. Think of it as trying to sign your name the way someone else would.’ I said._

_‘Turn it upside down.’ He said. ‘It’s easier to copy someone that way.’_

_‘Invert the code… not a bad idea.’ I said typing it up. ‘You finally off work or just going in?’_

_‘On stand by. Might just have a cheat day and play some X-box in the break room.’ He said._

_‘Firefighter?’ I asked._

_‘No… I do run out of burning buildings a lot though.’ He said._

_‘Your insurance premium must be through the roof.’ I said._

_‘Job covers it.’ He said. ‘I wonder if they have pizza in the cafeteria? I could go for a slice.’_

_‘Cold pizza is the best pizza.’ I said._

_‘Finally someone who gets it.’ He said. “Nat says I eat too much pizza.’_

_‘Like there could ever be such a thing.’ I said._

_‘Aw coffee no!’ He said suddenly making me laugh._

“What’s so funny?” Tony said from behind me, making me jump out of my seat and spill my coffee.

“Ah!” I shrieked.

“Woah sorry thought you heard me come in.” Tony said. “But you were… zoned out again.”

“Yeah sorry I was… talking to the guy in my head.” I said.

“You have a…” Tony started.

“Soulmate, yeah.” I said.

“You guys talk a lot.” Tony said.

“We tend to keep the line pretty open.” I said.

“So right now can he see me or…” Tony said.

“It doesn’t work that way.” I said. “We can talk in our heads, normally we do that when we’re not doing anything else or we’re alone. You don’t talk with yours?”

“No I keep that line shut off. I don’t think they’d want to see or hear about the things I do. They might read about them.” He said with a smirk.

“You are hard to miss.” I said.

“What’s he like?” Tony asked. “It is a he right?”

“He is a guy. I obviously don’t know his name. He’s older, by I’d say about 20 years, give or take a bit.” I said.

“That’s specific.” Tony said.

“As far back as I can remember I’ve been able to hear him. I remember the first time he did it was by accident and he was complaining about being super hungover. He had gotten drunk to celebrate his birthday and I was like four at the time. So I’m guessing he was in his late teens, early twenties.” I said. “Uh what else… he goes to shooting ranges a lot works out a lot, and he travels a lot for work so I’d say he’s in the military or does something like that. He’s funny, loves pizza and coffee, practically lives off it. He’s a good guy.”

“Sounds like it.” He said. “Is that the upgrade you finished up last night?”

“It’s not an upgrade.” I said. “It’s a patch in.”

“Patch in?” Tony said.

“Pass me your phone.” I said going to my table.

“Did you…” He asked realizing what I was doing.

“I might have.” I said plugging the phone in to the computer with USB code. “It’s still a Beta and Jarvis won’t be able to do everything he does here but hands free calling, texts, and internet searches should be doable.”

‘So what? Voice command?” Tony said.

“That’s the idea.” I said finishing the download. “Alright should be set to go. Want to try it out?”

“How do I activate it?” Tony said.

“it has all the same cues Jarvis normally does.” I said. “So just ask him to do something?”

“Alright… Jarvis call Pepper for me.”

“Dialing Miss Potts.” Jarvis said through the phone.

‘Wait Jarvis could do that before. He’d just remotely control my phone.” Tony said.

“Right, Beach?” I suggested.

“Beach.” Tony said as we headed out of the lab. We walked out of the house and went down the road to the beach.

“This should be far enough you’re not in the house’s internet range.” I said.

“Okay, Jarvis, dial Pepper.” Tony said.

“Dialing Miss Potts for you sir.” Jarvis said and the phone started buzzing before Pepper picked up.

“Yes Tony?” Pepper said.

“It works.” I said.

“Congratulations Pep you’re now a part of history.” Tony said.

“What did you do?” She said.

“Riley did it.” Tony said.

“It was your basecode.” I said.

“Is anything on fire?” Pepper asked.

“No but Jarvis is on my phone and we can do voice commands.” Tony said.

“That’s great.” Pepper said. “Congratulations, should I set anything up?”

“Steak dinner for everyone.” Tony said.

“Oh yeah I can’t do dinner. I have class.” I said.

“Ditch it.” Tony said.

“Tony she can’t ditch class.” Pepper said. “Stop being a bad influence.”

“I’m not a bad influence, I’m a great influence.” Tony said.

“I’m not even going to point out all the example of how wrong that is because it’d be too easy.” Pepper said.

“Also I have a midterm for my late class.” I said.

“So late steak dinner.” Tony said. “Pepper set it up.”

“The usual place?” Pepper said.

“That’ll work.” Tony said.

If there was one thing I had learned in the months since I started working here, it’s that Tony looked for any excuse to celebrate.

_‘Well the patch worked and my boss is buying me a steak dinner.’ I said._

_‘Told you, you had nothing to worry about.’ He said. ‘ow!’_

_‘Ow?’ I thought confused._

_‘Nat just bit me for trying to pin her down.’ He said._

_‘Make sure she doesn’t have rabies.’ I said hearing him laugh._

We headed back to the house and I got back to work triple checking everything yet again seeing how I could increase Jarvis’ capabilities on the mobile device.

“As far as I can tell everything is going great. There aren’t any lags. Jarvis’ responses aren’t jumbled and your phone can still open the other apps right?” I asked.

“Riley, take a minute. Enjoy the moment. You made a huge breakthrough. Pat yourself on the back.” Tony said.

“But it can always be better and just because there aren’t glitches right now doesn’t mean there won’t be.” I said.

“But right now there aren’t so take a minute. How about we got an ice cream or a milk shake? I’ll even let you drive the roadster is you want.” He said.

“I can’t drive.” I said.

“Kid you know I can afford another if you crash.” Tony said.

“I don’t know how to drive.” I said.

  
“What?” Tony said dropping the smoldering iron he was holding. “Ow! You don’t know how to drive? How have you been getting here everyday? And school?”

“It take the bus or I walk.” I said.

“You walk?” Tony said.

“Yeah, It’s like a twenty minute walk so not too bad.” I said.

“Uh no.” Tony said. “We’re fixing this.”

“You’re going to teach me how to drive?” I said.

“Of course not. Happy is.” Tony said as I followed him out of the lab. “Hogan where are you?”

**Early 2008-**

We were in the living room for a change. Tony was on a bit of a time crunch and I was cramming for midterms because I had decided to take double the normally recommended courses.

“Alright that should do it. How’s it look kid?” Tony asked.

“Like every other weapon of mass destruction you’ve made before.” I said.

“Not like every other missile. The Jericho is a masterpiece.” Tony said.

“It’s a missile that launches more tiny missiles.” I said. “Still goes boom.”

“It’s also a very expensive missile that’s going to make us rich beyond our wildest dreams.” Obadiah said as he walked in.

“Oh look Dick’s here. I’m out.” I said grabbing my things.

“Nice to see you too kid.” Obadiah said sarcastically. “You’re really going to keep calling me that?”

“It is your middle name.” Tony said as I put everything in the designer leather tote bag I had gotten for Christmas from Pepper. She and Tony had slowly started replacing my things with newer and higher end things. I had tried complaining at first but that only made Tony go even more overboard.

“See you later Tony.” I said.

“Aw come on Riley I was just about to go put this bad boy together. Maybe cause a tiny explosion and freak Pepper out?” he said.

“Pass, I’m going to squeeze in a power nap before my midterm.” I said. “Later.”

As I was walking out I heard them talking a bit.

“She really doesn’t like me.” I said.

“You were kind of a dick to her.” Tony said.

“It was an honest mistake.” He said.

I closed the door behind me and drove off. I walked into my condo, kicked off my shoes. Threw my hoodie into the couch before slipping my hands under my shirt behind my back and unclasped my bra. I slipped it off through my sleeve and threw it aside.

_‘Mhmmm.’ I moaned. ‘That feels so good.’_

_‘No sex noises! I don’t need to hear that.’ He said._

_‘Why? Jealous?’ I teased._

_‘There are things I don’t need to hear. And yes. It’s been a while for me.’ He said._

_‘I heard cold showers help.” I said._

_‘They do something. I wouldn’t say help.” He said before quickly changing the subject. ‘Are you finally going to sleep?’_

_“Power nap before my test.” I said. ‘Sorry I kept you up all weekend.”_

_“Wasn’t going to get any sleep anyway. Last minute work call.” He answered._

_“Those are the worst.” I said._

_“Should have turned off my phone. Did you set an alarm?” He reminded me._

_“Shit, doing that now.” I said reaching for my alarm and setting up three alarms three minutes apart from each other to make sure I woke up. “Done. Are you home or on your way?”_

_“On my way.” He said._

_“Russia?” I asked._

_“Nope.” He said._

_“Are you ever going to tell me what you do for a living? I’m starting to think you’re a hitman or something.” I said. I got this cold feeling from him that made chills run down my spine._

_“And if I was?” He said._

_“I’ll assume they deserved it by doing something really douchy like stealing candy from a baby or hurting a puppy.” I said._

_“Go to sleep.” He said._

_“Can’t. Too much espresso. Read me something?” I asked._

_“I don’t have a book on me.” He said._

_“Sing?” I suggested._

_He sighed. “Hold on. Bob Dylan or Simon and Garfunkel okay?”_

_“That bad huh?” I asked._

_“It’s been a day.” He said sounding tired._

_“Okay.” I said getting that he didn’t want to talk about it._

_‘Come gather ‘round people_

_Wherever you roam_

_And admit that the waters_

_Around you have grown_

_And accept it that soon_

_You’ll be drenched to the bone_

_If your time to you is worth savin’_

_And your better start swimmin’_

_Or you’ll sink like a stone_

_For the times they are a-changin’_

_Come writers and critics_

_Who prophesize with your pens_

_And keep your eyes wide_

_The chance won’t come again_

_And don’t speak too soon_

_For the wheel’s still in spin_

_And there’s no tellin’ who_

_That it’s namin’_

_For the loser now_

_Will be later to win_

_For the times they are a-changin’…_

_For the times they are a-changin’’ He sung_

That was the last verse I heard before I knocked out.

**February 2008-**

I was in the lab helping Tony build the first prototype of the Jericho. Which I know sounds insane but after knowing Tony for over a year stunts like this didn’t really surprise me anymore. He bought a racecar team just to prove a point to one of his competitors.

“I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t be doing this here.” I said.

“Come on Riles, we’re just building the frame, putting in the wiring for the jet propulsion system, I’ll do the fun stuff at the SI lab.” Tony said. “You know unless you’ve changed your mind and want to help with that.”

“Nope, I’m good. Might pop in to biomed or the reactor room to take a look at the plans.” I said.

“The real business is in weapons.” Tony said.

“That’s something I’ve never understood.” I said.

“What’s not to get the military pays us a lot of money for our weapons.” Tony said. “And we use that money to buy stuff.”

“I know how a business works Tony. I meant you.” I said.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“You love what you do. Specifically the science part. You love being locked away in the lab getting your hands dirty and building something. The business is something you do because it’s expected but you pawn it off on Pepper or Dick whenever you can. You have built some amazing things but you always come back to this.” I said.

“You said it yourself, I like building things.” Tony said.

“But why this?” I said. “And don’t say it’s the money because you have more money than you’d be able to spend in a thousand years. You love making new things pushing the boundaries doing the impossible.”

“What I do is important to a lot of people.” Tony said.

“I know and you’re great at it but you’re not inventing. You’re basically taking something that already does what it’s supposed to and giving it a new paint job. You’re doing the exact same thing your dad and everyone before him did. When you could be doing so much more.” I said.

“I do other things too.” He said.

“But you always come right back to this.” I said.

“Because I like this. The weapons business has a bad rep but without it we wouldn’t have nuclear energy, radiation treatments for cancer, we wouldn’t have made it to the moon, just like without the money we make from selling our weapons there wouldn’t be a biomed division, an agriculture and aeronautics division and the Stark foundation wouldn’t even exist.” He said.

“Still not a reason.” I said.

“Okay… I like being the best. I like people knowing I’m the best. I like seeing my face everywhere and having my name open doors.” Tony said.

“I think you having money is what does that not the weapons.” I said.

“I’d love to keep talking about this but I only have a few weeks to put this all together and I want to go back to the fun stuff so help? Please? For your favorite person in the whole wide world.” He said.

“Who said you’re my favorite person in the whole wide world?” I retorted.

“Ah Riley you wound me.” Tony said clutching his chest. “I thought we were science bros.”

“You’re science bro, I’m science sis.” I corrected.

“So I am your favorite person?” Tony said.

_‘Who’s my favorite person in the whole wide world?’ I thought._

_‘I really hope it’s me if not the universe really screwed up.’ He teased._

_‘Of course it’s you, you know too much.’ I said in a fake threatening voice making him chuckle._

“You’re in the top ten.” I said. “Maybe top five.”

“Oh good you’re here. That better not be a missile.” Pepper said coming in holding a plate of orange slices. “Your house is on the edge of a cliff Tony. I like my job but I’m not willing to get blown up for it. And here’s a little snack sweetie you need more than coffee.”

“Thanks Pepper.” I said before turning to tease Tony. “Definitely top six.”

“Six?” He said. “Six?”

“Top six what?” Pepper said.

“Top six favorite people.” I said.

“How am I not even top two?” Tony said.

“Ego.” Pepper and I said at the same time.

“Well I’m honored just to be included in the list.” Pepper said rubbing it in.

“Aw come on Pep.” Tony said making me laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone I wanted to thank everyone who's read this scribble of mine. This past weekend has been rough. So yesterday not only did my phone officially start to crop out on me but my laptop died. It had been acting up for a while now but it finally kicked the bucket. It had a good run but its finally time to scrap it. I sent it to the repair shop to see if anything can be done to give it a few more months but they didn't give me a lot of hope. So I have no laptop. My dad decided to give the family an early and long needed Christmas present of new phones which is how I'm writing this to you now. I was smart enough to back up all of my files to one drive and Google drive. Though most of this chapter... like 90% of it I typed out on my phone so I apologize for the typos.  
> This also might be why updates might not be as frequent or they will be shorter. I appreciate all of your support and your comments have been what have kept me going in this shit storm of a year so thank you all and now enjoy.

**End of April 2008-**

I was so close to finishing my degree, the first of many according to Tony. Personally I didn’t really see the point of another degree. I was more of a learn on the job or make it up as I go person.

I hadn’t seen Tony in over a week. He was flying back and forth between LA, New York and DC working on hashing out the details of the sale of the new weapons line.

That didn’t stop him from calling randomly in the middle of the night to bounce ideas off of me. He once called me from the playboy mansion then proceeded to get lectured by Pepper about corrupting me.

I was still showing up every day to the house to do some work on Jarvis or to be on standby in case Tony wanted me to get a jump start on something for him.

**Meanwhile on the other side of the world…**

“Alright I’m in position.” Natasha said.

“Target is in sight.” Clint said from a rooftop looking towards an apartment building across from him. Natasha was posing as a party guest looking to intercept a package before a deal was made.

He notched an arrow into his bow

_'Say hello to my little friend.' He thought._

_‘Are you watching Scarface at work?’ She asked._

_‘Something like that….’ He said._

_‘You should be doing your reports.’ She said._

_‘I am, have it all worked out in my head.’ He said shooting another arrow at a guy that was about to hit his partner._

_‘Sure you do.’ She said._

_‘Are you still at work?’ He asked._

_‘Still here. Finishing up my last lab report ever… well for school.’ She said._

_‘How are you even graduating already you were barely there a year?’ He said._

_‘All the AP classes I took in high school, classes I took at community college and the credits I got for my internship add up.’ She said._

_‘You doing anything to celebrate?’ he said._

_‘You sound like Tony.’ I said._

_‘There’s more to life than work. Even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.’ He said._

_‘I love my job.’ I said._

_‘So do I doesn’t mean I go in when I don’t actually have to’ Clint said watching as Natasha flipped a guy over._

“I got the drive, I need some cover to get out.” Natasha called out over the comms.

“On it, shut your eyes.” Clint said shooting a flash bang arrow into the room blinding everyone while Natasha made a break for it. Clint held onto his bow as he ran to meet up with Natasha at the extraction point.

_‘But I should be here right now. I’m not working but I have the house all to myself and Jarvis to bounce ideas off of.’ I said._

_‘You have your own place.’ Clint reminded her._

_‘But not a lab.’ I said._

_‘You need to get out more.’ He said running down a flight of stairs and tripping but saving the landing with a roll and kept running._

_‘Fine how about I go study at a coffee shop?’ I said._

_‘Why not? I wasn’t planning on sleeping tonight anyway.’ He retorted. It was true he was going to be flying the jet back._

_‘Sorry.’ She said not really meaning it._

By the time he got to the alley where he was going to meet up with Natasha she was already there.

“You’re a bit slow today, age finally catching up to you?” Natasha teased.

“Was busy talking her into getting out more.” He said. “She’s going to a coffee shop.”

“You’re not supposed to enable addicts.” She said.

“It’s better than her locking herself in a lab.” Clint said. “Even if it is by choice.”

“Nerd.” Natasha said.

“She’s way smarter than me and I have no problem admitting it. Just worry about her sometimes.” Clint said.

“She’ll make friends at school eventually. That’s what normal people do.” She said.

“Well she’s graduating next month.” He said.

“She is?” Natasha said as they got in the car and took her phone out. 

“Yeah, she’s a genius.” Clint said.

“Where does she go to school again?” Natasha said ready to search her up.

“I’m not telling you because I don’t want you looking her up.” Clint said.

“You know where she is, who she works for… I can get you her address in less than a minute.” Natasha said. 

“No, you won’t. It’ll happen when it happens and if doesn’t then it doesn’t. Either way I still get to talk to her every day.” Clint said.

“You’re really going to leave it up to chance?” Natasha asked.

“I did with you and that worked out.” Clint said and Natasha could not argue with that.

**Back in Malibu…**

I was at the Starbucks a couple of blocks down the road from Tony’s house. I hate to admit it but I was actually nice to get out of the lab.

The beach front patio, smell of freshly ground coffee beans and just the all around change of scenery felt good. I was making a lot of progress on my school assignments and even had a couple of ideas for Jarvis but just when I was hitting my stride my phone started ringing. I didn’t even have to check the caller ID to know who it was.

“Morning or is it afternoon wherever you are? I’ve lost track.” I answered

“Well I’m in the lab so I’d say mid morning?” Tony said 

“You’re in the lab?” I said.

“Yeah I was wondering where you were?” he asked 

“ it was a nice day so I decided to work outside, I’m at the Starbucks down the block.” I said.

“Its like you read my mind.” Tony said. “I was just telling pepper how I could go for an espresso right now.”

“I’ll grab you one to go,” I said knowing it was probably the hangover from whatever party he went to last night talking.

“And that’s why you’re my favorite teenager.” Tony said

“I’m the only teenager you know. See you in ten.” I said before hanging up and going to order everyone’s coffee.

I walked in parked out front and handed happy his iced macchiato as I walked in Pepper had taken over the living room which was her usual work spot when she worked from the house. I handed her her latte before heading downstairs where Tony was already blasting some Black Sabbath as he worked on one of the cars. I put the coffee where he could see it and grab it when he wanted it.

“Guess who’s about to become the largest weapons manufacturer in the world?” Tony said.

“I heard “ I said. “ I wanted your opinions on some things I was working on.”

“Did you get this idea on your walkabout?” Tony said.

“I went down the block to Starbucks.” I said.

“Yeah which is weird because you hate crowds and you hate Starbucks.” Tony said.

“They burn their beans when they roast them which makes the coffee more bitter than it should be but their Frappuccinos are good.” I said and tiny just gave me a look which said he totally didn’t buy it. “and my guy thinks I need to get out more so I decided to humor him for once.”

“Yet when I say it…” Tony said.

“When you say go out you mean it in a find a guy and have some fun together kind of way.” I said. “Which is not my idea of fun.”

“Maybe you should come to Vegas with us. Have some fun for once.” Tony said.

“I wouldn’t call an awards show fun. Also I’m not even allowed in well… anywhere so I’ll pass.” I said.

“Then how about Afghanistan?” Tony offered.

“Afghanistan?” I said thinking he was kidding. 

_‘There’s no way he’s serious.’ I thought._

_‘Serious about what?’ He asked._

_‘Tony just joked about me going with him to Afghanistan for his weapons demonstration.’ I said._

_‘He better be kidding.’ He said_.

“What about Afghanistan?” Pepper said as she walked in 

“I was just thinking it was time for Riley to learn about the business side of things.” Tony said.

“OH shit you’re actually serious.” I said.

‘ _He’s not kidding.’ I said._

_‘Don’t do it. You’ve seen the news.’ He said._

“Language.” Pepper said.

“You’re not actually serious right now.” I said.

“Yeah, as your mentor its my job to teach you about all aspects of the business not just the fun parts. I mean you are going to have my job one day.” Tony said. “It'll be good for you to see me in action.”

“I do see you in action every morning on the front page news.” I said.

“Tony you are not taking a teenager into an active war zone.” Pepper said.

_‘Don’t do it.’ He said._

_‘I’m not ‘ I said_.

“It is not an active war zone and we’d have soldiers guarding us from the second we land to when we get back to the jet.” He said. “And those tabloids are always wrong.”

“Are they though?” I said.

“You do like to brag about the 12 cover models.” Pepper said.

“Oh Miss March finally got back to you?” I said sarcastically.

“No but December had a twin.” Tony said. “Come on kid it'll be fun.”

“Yeah if I wanted to see a desert I’d go to Joshua tree.” I said. “besides you wouldn’t want the strippers to get lonely.”

“What strippers?” Tony said pretending he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“Dude you have a retractable stripper pole on your jet and no one on your in flight service knows how to button their shirts. Its not that hard to put two and two together “ I said.

“Strippers Tony? Strippers?! She’s a kid!” Pepper yelled going red.

“In my defense they didn’t actually strip in front of her I forgot to let them know Riley was coming it was a short flight didn’t think there’d be time for anything.” Tony said. “ And legally she’s an adult…”

“And I’m not going.”I said. “I have finals.”

“I could always…” he started.

“No” Pepper and I said ending the conversation .

Tony did drop the subject, though he did try to guilt trip me about not wanting to go.

_‘So just making sure, you’re not going to Afghanistan.’ He said._

_“I'm not going.’ I confirmed_.

_‘Good.’ He said._

_‘Though if I was going…’ I said._

_‘No.’ he said not even letting me finish_. 

“Talking to him again? Tony asked.

“Yeah he’s working late.” I said.

“Did you tell him about Afghanistan?” Tony said.

“I did. He wants to punch you for even suggesting I should go with you.” I said.

“He did say you should go out more.” Tony said.

“Don’t think he meant an active war zone.” I said.

“Fair enough and it’d be bad timing since your graduating in a few weeks. I know a couple of dancers we could book for the entertainment at your party.” He said.

“No party.” I said.

“Rileeeee.” Tony fake whined. “You have to have a party. Hell ill even make it a small one.” 

“I don’t think you know how to do small.” I said. 

“But Pepper does.” He said.

“Still a no but lobster dinner at that place we went to last time?” I suggested.

“I’ll book the place for us. “ Tony said.

“How about just a table for four?” I said.

“We can sit at any table you want.” He said. “Now let’s call it a day. I brought pizza from New York.”

“Oh pizza!” I said following him out.

**A Few Days Later…**

As was normal for us when I had finals coming up and Tony was on a work, lab party bender, we had pulled yet another all nighter in the lab.

_‘How are you still awake?’ he said_

_‘A lot of coffee, loud music and just really in the zone.’ I said._

_‘I’m pretty sure there are child labor laws against this.’ He said._

_‘Legally considered an adult hence the emancipation.’ I said._

_‘You need a vacation.’ He said._

_‘You think? I’ve heard Afghanistan is nice this time of year.’ I said._

_‘Not funny.’ He said._

_‘It’s just a few more days. Tony’s going to be out of town for the demonstration and whatever party or bender he decides to go on to celebrate closing the deal and I’ll be done with school I'll sleep then.’ I said._

_‘You always say that.’ He said._

“Because it’s true.” I mumbled.

“What’s always true?” Tony asked.

“Oh nothing just talking to the other guy.” I said. “He says I’m working to much.”

“He’s not wrong.” Tony said.

“Says the guy that’s been on a three day bender?” I said.

“I take breaks you don’t.” He said.

“I’m in the zone.” I said.

“Is that what you call breaking almost all child labor laws?” Pepper said as she walked in.

“I’m not just working in studying so no rules were broken.” I said. 

“Either way its time to call it a day. And you need to start getting ready.” Pepper told Tony.

“Right, Vegas.” Tony said. “I’m going to hit the caps table…”

“You mean go to the awards show where your best friend is presenting you an award on all your amazing achievements?” Pepper reminded him.

“That too.” He said. “but I’m getting there a bit early, I can make the rounds show up right before. I’ll make happy set an alarm.”

“Tony just please show up. “ He said. “Pep go home you’re looking a little tense relax unwind. I’ll get myself to the airfield promise.”

“Get there on time.” She said.

“Promise.” Tony said. He was lying through his teeth but since Pepper wasn’t going It didn’t really matter to him.

“Remember you have an early flight tomorrow.” She said. “So don’t stay out too late.”

“yes mom" Tony retorted.

“You too Riley, get some sleep.” Pepper said.

“I’ll try.” I said not making any promises 

With that Pepper left us in the lab again.

“I should probably head out I want to hit the black jack tables.”

“And you want to pick up your award?” I reminded him.

“I don’t know, I am running kind of low on shelf safe, might be a safety hazard.” He said.

“Says the guy who wanted to build a missile in his garage.” I said.

“I wasn’t going to set off the missile in the garage.” He said.

“Either way try not to get into too much trouble. Not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” I said.

“ You’re right I can bring a show girl home.” He said.

“I meant herpes and crabs but that’s practically the same thing.” I said grabbing my things. “see you when you get back"

“aw you’re not going to see me off tomorrow?” Tony said.

“Aren’t you leaving at like 5am?” I said.

“I might be a bit late.” Tony said.

“Of course you are.” I said picking up my things. “Night.”

“Night.” Tony said as I walked out.

When I got home I looked around my apartment. I hadn’t been here in days. I don’t think I’ve ever even sat in the living room once since I moved in.

‘ _Finally home. Now what?’ I said_

_‘I don’t know you could go to sleep or watch a bit of tv?’ He suggested._

_‘Maybe I should study some more.’ I said._

_‘You already know everything and you have a week before your first exam. Take a break.’ He said._

_‘Is there anything good on?’ I asked._

_‘There’s a star wars marathon' He said._

_‘Oh right… Happy force day.’ I said._

_‘Force day?’ he asked sounding tired and barely awake._

_‘May the fourth.’ I said._

_‘oh…’ he said. ‘happy star wars day.’_

_‘You sound tired.’ I said._

_‘It’s been a busy few weeks.’ He said. ‘Not to mention the voice in my head keeping me up…’_

_‘Sorry.’ I said._

_‘I’ve done the same to you with the travel and time differences .’ he said. ‘finally got some time off. Shortly the world ending I have two weeks of just me. My tv and all the take out menus I have saved.’_

_‘Sounds nice.’ I said._

_‘You’re welcome to join. We could do our own version of the directors commentary.’ he said._

_‘We could start right now, why does everyone say that empire strikes back has the biggest plot twist in movie history? His name is Darth Vader and the literal translation is dark father.’ I said._

_‘What I never got was how Luke figured out Leia was his sister, I mean the first time he saw her hologram he was like she’s hot and then she kisses him.’ He said._

_‘Now that is the real plot twist of the original trilogy.’ I said._

_‘Also they split up the twins and Leia gets to be a princess but they leave Luke in the middle of a desert planet, its pretty obvious who the favorite is…’ He said._

_‘You know what is great parenting though destroying an entire planet because your daughter won’t talk to you.” I said._

_‘what about freezing your daughters boyfriend in Carbonite?’ He said._

_‘I mean I kind of get that one, Hans in trouble with everyone, basically took his daughter for a joyride around the galaxy and she’s rebelling against him, he had it coming.’ I said._

_That made him laugh._

_‘cutting off his kids arm though… a bit much.’ He said._

_‘Totally.’ I said laying down on the couch as I kept watching the TV feeling more relaxed than I had in a while_.

I ended up falling asleep somewhere between princess Leia strangling Jabba the hutt and the Ewoks trying to eat Han and Chewie.

I was probably going to sleep in tomorrow well I would have if Tony hadn’t called at 3am and woken me up.

Ring ring ring!!!

“mhmmm.” I groaned as I sleepily reached over to the coffee table to pick up my phone. I was greeted by a photo of Tony . “Why?” I said to myself.

“Tony?” I answered 

“Oh good you’re up.” He said.

“I am now.” I said rubbing my eyes. “Why are you calling me at… 3am?!”

“I just had this great idea I wanted to run by you.” He said.

“Is it a great idea you want to talk about or is it a great idea you just jumped right in got stuck and now need help with?” I asked.

“Uh… probably the second one.” Tony said before I heard a crash in the background. “Yeah definitely the second one.”

I sighed. “Ask Jarvis to start the coffee maker please, ill be there in ten minutes.” I said.

“On it.” Tony said before hanging up.

‘ _Time to go to work ‘ I thought._

_‘Too early ‘ He whined ‘Press your snooze button.’_

_‘My alarm is my boss and he has no snooze button.’ I said getting dressed before heading back to the house._

It was still dark out and none of the lights in the house were on. I walked towards the stairs where I could see lights coming from the basement.

“Alright what is…” I said and I was met with Dumme and U beeping loudly speeding around the lab and knocking things down.

“Oh good I think there was something wrong with the new patch in update.” He said.

“You mean the one that wasn’t done yet?” I said.

“I thought you were over checking. Help?” Tony said.

“Alright.” I said going to my desk.

Tony was a genius and honestly he could have figured this out and fixed it faster than I could. I’m pretty sure the only reason he called me and always called in the middle of the night was because he was lonely. He was never going to admit it though.

I quickly got rid of the patch in and Dumme and U went back to their corners.

“So what exactly was that patch in supposed to do?” Tony asked.

“Give Jarvis control of Dumme and U. Not completely take them over just give them more direction so they don’t make as much of a mess.” I said. 

“Still need the…” he started.

“Yeah and the…” I started.

“To do the…?” he said.

“But I was going to combine it with the… “ I said.

“And compress the code? Would that actually work?” he asked.

“I don’t know I was going to try it out and go from there.” I said.

“I’ve got a few hours to kill.” Tony said.

“Don’t you have an early flight?” I said.

“One of the perks of having your own jet is you’re not on anyone’s schedule but your own.” He said.

So we got to it…

It was slow going and I got stuck a few times. Probably the result of sleep deprivation and way too much caffeine but I wasn't going to stop.

“I’m starting to get hungry, I’m going to go make some eggs or something upstairs.” I said.

“Uh I’d hold off on that.” Tony said feeling a bit awkward.

“Why?” I asked.

“A friend of mine…” he started.

“Girl you met last night.” I corrected.

“Spent the night.” Tony said.

“had sex with you and you waited until she fell asleep and snuck downstairs.” I corrected.

“Just woke up and Pepper is giving her the tour before she leaves.” Tony said.

“Jarvis woke her up, Pepper is giving her the clothes she had dry cleaned for her before Pepper gets rid of her for you.” I said knowing how that usually goes.

“Uh you know about… “ he said.

“Yeah I pick up Peppers and whatever their name is that day’s coffee on my way here every morning.” I said walking to the car Tony was working on when he got bored of staring at the computer screen. “You sure picked the worst day to do this to her.”

“It’s her job she does this all the time.” Tony said.

“Yeah but she’s probably already mad you missed the awards show.” I said.

“Its Pepper. She knows what I’m like. She expected it.” Tony said “Jarvis, Give me an exploded view.”

  
“The compression in cylinder three appears to be low.” Jarvis said as the projection appeared. We heard the beeps of the garage door control panel

  
“You’re gonna get it.” I teased.

  
“Log that.” Tony said with a smirk as he wiped his hands on a rag and tossed it to me. I caught it an put it aside.

  
“i'm gonna try again, right now.” Pepper said as she turned down the music. “Riley? You’re here?”

  
“I had to deal with a robot uprising at 3am.” I said going to my bag.

  
“Please don't turn down my music.” Tony said.

  
“I'll keep you posted.” She said getting off the phone. “You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now.”

  
“How'd she take it?” Tony asked as I rolled my eyes.

  
“Like a champ.” Pepper deadpanned.

  
“Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?” Tony said 

  
“Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago.” Pepper reminded him.

  
“That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there.” Tony said.

  
“Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door.” She said.

  
“I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?” Tony said.

  
“Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings. Do you want it? Yes or no.” Pepper said.

  
“ Is it a good representation of his spring period?” Tony retorted.

  
“ The Springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked—” I said.

  
“Since when do you know about art?” Tony asked.

  
“I read.” I said.

  
“So?” Tony said turning his attention back to Pepper. 

  
“I think it's a fair example. Um.. I think it's incredibly overpriced.” She said honestly. Those were also the words always took as a dare.

  
“I need it. Buy it. Store it.” He said.

  
“Okay. The MIT commencement speech...” Pepper said 

  
“Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down...” he said before turning to me. “But since we’re on the subject. MIT I can make a few calls… start on your masters in the fall?"

  
“I’d rather learn on the job.” I said.

  
“Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes.” Pepper said.

  
"Would you at least think about it? The leaders of tomorrow go there. I went there.” He said.

  
“I just don’t think…” I started.

  
“Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me.” He said about the comment I was about to say.

  
“ I need you to sign this before you get on the plane.” Pepper said handing him some things.

  
“What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?” He said.

  
“As a matter of fact, I do.” Pepper said.

  
“I don't like it when you have plans.” Tony said.

  
“Shes allowed to have plans on her birthday Tony.” I said handing Pepper an envelope with a gift certificate for a spa. “Happy birthday Pepper.”

  
“Aw thank you sweetie.” Pepper said.

  
“ It's your birthday?” Tony asked.

  
“ Yes.” Pepper said.

  
“I knew that. Already?” he said.

  
“Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year.” Pepper snarked.

  
“Well, get yourself something nice from me.” Tony said.

  
“I already did.” She said.

  
“ And?” Tony said wanting to know what it was.

  
“Oh, it was very nice.” Pepper said

  
“Yeah.” Tony said

  
“ Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark.” Pepper said.

  
“You're welcome, Miss Potts... Okay.” Tony said. “Kid you’re riding with me.”

  
“I’m not going to Afghanistan.” I said.

  
“I know you’re driving my car back.” He said.

  
“I though happy was taking you?” I said.

  
“Oh he’s coming too.” Tony said.

  
He did come with us in another car because Tony thought it’d be a good idea to race across Los Angeles. Tony drove like a mad man while I hung onto my seat for dear life.

  
_‘I’m gonna die. I’m going to be just another statistic.” I said._

  
_‘Whats wrong? Who is it? Can you hide? Can you get out?’ he said._

  
_‘were on the freeway Tony’s driving like a mad man and I’m going to die.” I said_

_‘Breathe just pretend you’re on a Rollercoaster.” He said as Tony made a sharp turn._

  
“whooo!!! Let’s see what this bad boy can really do!” he said flooring it..

  
When we finally got to the airport I jumped out of the car and almost kissed the ground.

  
“You're good. I thought I lost you back there.” Tony told happy who got there seconds after us

  
“You did, sir.” Happy said before going to grab Tony’s things. “I had to cut across Mulholland.

  
“I got you. I got you.” Tony said smiling.

  
“I’m never letting you drive again.” I told Tony.

  
“you know you had fun" he said.

  
“What's wrong with you?” Rhodey said from the jet door. 

  
“What?” Tony said pretending he had no idea what.

  
“Three hours.” Rhodey said.

  
“i got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair.” He said.

  
“that’s what you’re calling it?” I asked.

  
“For three hours. For three hours you got me standing here.” Rhodey said.

  
“Waiting on you now.” Tony said before turning to me and handing me his keys before taking them back. “Last call kid, you sure you don’t want to go?”

  
“No I’m gonna let you have all the fun. But if you ever have a deal to close in Paris Tokyo london… you know basically anywhere that isn’t a war zone I’m there.” I said. 

  
“I’ll remember that.” Tony said “just like ill remember were not done talking about MIT.”

  
“Oh we are.” I said taking the keys. “be careful.”

  
“Where’s the fun in that?” Tony said 

  
“Coming back in one piece.” I deadpanned and he smirked.

  
“Alright Let's go. Come on. Wheels up! Rock and roll!” Tony said running onto the jet.

  
I shook my head before getting back in the car and driving back to Malibu.

  
Pepper was taking full advantage of the day off. It was dead week so I didn’t have class and I was way ahead on studying for finals. I got back to my apartment and went straight to bed.

  
Except I couldn’t fall asleep.

  
Most people in my position would call their friends and hangout. My friends are the people I work with though I’m not sure they count. One of them was half way around the world, the other was celebrating her birthday with her actual friends and happy was on standby until Tony got back.

  
That only left one other person though he had no choice so not sure he counts as a friend either.

  
_‘He’s gone and I’m bored.’ I said._

  
_‘Is the robot uprising over already?’ he said._

  
_‘It was a trial run and it failed but Skynet will succeed in the end.’ I said._

  
_‘Are you done studying?’ He asked._

  
_‘I’m out of stuff to study.’ I said._

  
_‘Video games?’ he suggested._

  
_‘Don’t have any. Never been able to afford any.’ I said._

  
_‘Don’t you get paid?’ he said._

  
_‘Well yeah but I’m just never home. I’m always at work or school.’ I said._

  
_‘Do you ever buy yourself anything you like?’ He said._

  
_‘Never really have time. Or someone always buys it for me.’ I said._

  
_‘Then maybe you should do that. Go to the mall, splurge a bit.’ He said._

  
_‘Shopping… I’ve never shopped for something that wasn’t food before.’ I said._

  
_‘You have time now.’ He said._

_‘Online shopping?’ I said._

_‘Or you could go in person?’ He said._

_‘Too far.’ I said grabbing my laptop_ .

**The Following Morning…**

Sometimes you just need to take a minute to stop and be grateful for the things you have. A year ago if someone had told me I’d be living in a beachfront condo working side by side with one of the most brilliant minds of our time which Tony is but I was never going to tell him I thought that because he already had a huge ego and I was not going to make it worse, I would have said they were high on acid.

One conversation changed everything. The moment I said yes to this job the course of my whole life changed.

And it only took one minute. One phone call and one sentence for everything to change again.

I was never going to forget that day just like I never forgot what happened all those years ago.

I felt amazing. I had gotten a full night’s rest. I was in such a good mood I decided to go on a run instead of working out in the buildings gym. I was listening to the best Playlist where somehow the songs just got better and better. 

It was the perfect day.

_‘I’m walking on sunshine whoa! And don’t it feel good!’ I hummed._

_‘You’re in a good mood today.’ He said._

_‘It’s a great day, I slept, I’m on a run. This Playlist just keeps getting better and you know what I’m going to treat myself to a smoothie.’ I said._

_‘This is why you need to sleep more often. The world looks different.’ He said._

‘ _And I am all for it.’ I said as Mr blue sky started playing. ‘oh I love this song “_

_He chuckled but didn’t say anything even if I was probably singing really off key._

_I grabbed my smoothie and walked back to my place._

_‘Hey are you home yet?’ he asked._

_‘Why did you find out where I live and decide to come meet me face to face?’ I teased. Like that would ever happen._

_‘uh no just get home and keep your phone on you.’ He said._

_‘Do you have any idea how weird you’re being right now?’ I said._

_‘Just trust me okay?’ He said sounding serious which he hardly ever was._

_‘I’m down the hall from my apartment.’ I said. Just as I was putting my keys in the lock my phone started buzzing. ‘That’s weird Pepper been texting me.’_

**Riley call me as soon as you see this.**

**Riley its urgent**

**Riley call me!**

Just as I walked into my apartment Pepper called me.

“Hey pep sorry I haven’t called I went out for a run and…” I started before she let out a sob. “Pepper? Are you okay?”

“Riley its Tony. He… he’s gone.” She said.

One minute can change everything but no one could have predicted everything that would come from this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone just wanted to apologize again for the typos. The repair shop got back to me and its likely they'll be able to fix my laptop so hopefully I should be able to work on it soon. In the meantime here's another update for you all. Enjoy

Tony’s gone

That was the only thing running through my head. 

I don’t know how long I stood there for. I was kind of in shock. I mean I had just seen him yesterday. I had teased him about being a public danger when he was behind the wheel. 

He was going to try and convince me to go to grad school. 

He was the only person besides the guy in my head that got me.

And he was gone.

Fuck.

Oh fuck.

Oh fuck!

_‘Hey take a breath.’ He said._

_‘He’s gone. Tony’s gone. Fuck Tony’s gone.’ I said struggling to hold back a sob._

_‘Hey stay with me.’ He said. ‘Take a deep breath,’_

_‘He wanted me to go with him.’ I said._

_‘There was nothing you could have done.’ He said._

_‘I should have told him not to go. To move the presentation to somewhere else.’ I said._

_‘Don’t do that to yourself. You knew him better than anyone. Would he have listened to you if you tried?’ He asked_.

Knew. Knew as in past tense. This was really happening. That was when I realized I was still on the phone with Pepper who was calling out to me and also crying.

“Riley?” Pepper said sniffling a bit.

“I’m uh… I’m here. What happened?” She said.

“I’m not sure. Rhodey said their caravan was ambushed on their way back from the demonstration and they were in separate humvees and all of Tony’s guards were killed. They found his phone next to a missile and there was blood they think he’s injured and they took him and ..” she said crying.

“Pepper hey its going to be okay. Were going to figure this out. Where are you?” I asked.

“I’m... I was on my way to the house.” She said. “the office is swarming with press and I cant…”

“Okay I’m going to jump in the shower and change. I’ll meet you there in half an hour or so.” I said.

“Okay I… I need to call PR and the board and…” Pepper started.

“Pep just breathe.” I said. “I’ll be there soon.”

With that I hung up and ran to my room. I showered changed into the first thing I could grab and ran out.

When I finally got to the house Pepper was in full work mode. She was answering calls while directing the PR team and my least favorite person in the world was there.

“I can assure you they are doing g everything they can to find him and in the mean time anything that comes up I will take care of.” Obadiah said.

“Hey,” I whispered to Pepper. “Where do you need me?”

“I’ll have Jarvis patch you in. All press just give them all the same statement, to wait until the press conference were having later at SI.” She said.

“On it.” I said grabbing my phone and getting ready to tow the company line.

I don’t know how Tony did it, those reporters were freaking vultures. You’d think they’d show a bit of sympathy for the guy that always gave them the time of day.

I had a huge headache by the time we got through all the reporters and they got the hint we weren’t going to tell them anything.

“That was the last one.” I said.

“I talked to the board and we’ve talked contingency plans. Since Tony has no heir I’ll be assuming control of Stark Industries. I did it before I can do it again.” Obadiah said.

“You are the vice president and you have the experience.” Pepper said.

“I hope you’ll be able to help with the transition.” He said not really asking as much as ordering.

“Of course.” Pepper said.

“And I haven’t forgotten about you kid. Tony’s told me about everything you’ve done since you start. Reminds me of what he was like at your age.” Obadiah said.

“I like to think I’m the better looking one.” I said.

“He’s definitely rubbed off on you.” Obadiah said. “I know we didn’t get off to the best start but I hope moving forward we can put our differences aside for the good of the company. It’s what Tony would have wanted.”

I’m sure Tony wanted a lot of things like to get another chance to hook up with Miss March, a hamburger and more importantly to not get Blown up by his own weapons or get taken by terrorists.

“We’ll see.” I answered before he left. I had this uneasy feeling things wouldn’t be that simple.

He left which left just me and Pepper.

“So what happens now.” I asked Pepper.

“I… I don’t know.” Pepper said. “We wait and see. If they find Tony or…”

“They find a body.” I said making Pepper tear up. “I know this is probably pointless and probably a huge long shot but Jarvis can you trace Tony’s cell phone.”

“I'm afraid the last signal received from sir’s cell phone was the location where he was last seen.” Jarvis answered.

“I figured.” I said.

“I should be at the press conference, to help if anything were to come up.” She said.

“I’m gonna sit it out. Don’t think there’s much I can do there.” I said.

“You should go home and Try not to worry even though that’s probably impossible.” She said. “You have exams next week.”

“I could flunk them and still graduate.” I said.

“I’ll check in on you later.” Pepper said giving me a hug before she headed out.

I thought about staying at the house and doing some work but everything reminded me of Tony. So I went made a stop at the grocery store and then headed home but it didn’t matter because everywhere I went and every channel I put on the TV was talking about the same thing Tony going missing.

“Uh.” I groaned 

‘ _Please tell me I’m asleep and this is some weird twisted dream?’ I asked._

_‘Sorry but its not.’ He said. ‘How are things over there?’_

_‘A mess.’ I said. ‘Everyone’s busy trying to keep the company’s stock from plummeting and stock holder for jumping ship Dicks taking charge and I just have this really bad feeling I can’t shake.’_

_‘It’s probably stress’ He said._

_‘Maybe.’ I said. ‘How’s the vacation going?’_

_‘I got called into work.’ He said._

_‘That sucks.’ I said. ‘Where to this time?’_

He didn’t say anything for a minute.

_‘Somewhere between England and China.’ He said._

_‘Well that’s specific.’ I said._

_‘Might be a busy couple of weeks. See how long it takes to find this guy?’ he said._

_‘Private investigator?’ I asked._

_‘Sometimes.’ He said._

_‘Are you ever going to tell me what it is you do? These talks are starting to feel one sided?” I said._

_‘I’ll tell you about it when we meet.’ He said._

_‘If we ever meet.’ I said._

_‘You never know. Stranger things have happened.’ He said._

_‘If you say so. Just be careful wherever going. ‘ I said._

_‘Always am and if I’m not Nats here.’ He said._

_‘Guess all that’s left to do is sit and wait.’ I said._

_‘Not really what I had in mind when I said you needed to take a break.’ He said._

_‘I have a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and a Netflix queue to keep me company.’ I said._

_‘As long as you don’t start the moping Playlist again.’ He said._

_‘That’s an October exclusive.’ I said. ‘Though the mood does fit. I get why people drink now. If I could I'd want to check out of life when life goes to hell.’_

_‘You can’t run away from your problems.’ He reminded me._

_‘I know but its nice to pretend.’ I said_.

The next couple of days were pretty uneventful. I was at home waiting for any news. There was no news which I wasn’t sure was a good thing or bad thing.

Then the nightmares started again.

After all these years it was always the same.

Me in the back seat singing happily to some classic rock song my dad had put on. Mom in the seat next to him holding my dad’s hand as they laughed as I got the lyrics wrong and just made something up. Before there was a flash of light and a loud honk. Everything goes dark and I’m stuck until they get me out. Stuck between them.

**Days Later…**

I woke up from another nightmare like I had everyday for the past week. I took a deep breath as I sat on the edge of the bed. I reached over to the phone to see if there were any updates.

No updates, but a text from Pepper asking me to call her when I can. She was probably just checking up on me again.

My professors had offered to give me an extension on my final projects when I turned them in. They said they understand if the loss of my mentor would make it difficult for me to focus. They were surprised when I turned in my work early instead.

_‘Is it too early for pizza? Or Chinese?’ I asked_

_‘Never too early but maybe.. and I can’t believe I’m saying this. It might be time for you to eat something that isn’t take out.’ He said._

_‘Are you calling me fat?’ I said._

_‘What? No, I don’t even know what you look like. I just think that maybe you should get out of your apartment for a bit… get some air… and sun.’ I said._

_‘You can just tell me to stop moping.’ I said._

_‘Your best friend’s missing, you have a right to mope. Just don’t let everything else fall apart while you do.’ He said._

_‘Mhmm why are you always right.’ I said taking another breath before standing up._

I got out of bed and jumped in the shower. I got dressed and then look around my apartment. Maybe he had a point about letting things fall apart a bit. There were blankets and throws scattered around. The coffee table had pizza boxes and take out boxes piled up. I went to the kitchen to make myself some coffee but I was out of coffee and everything else.

I grabbed a garbage bag and threw all the garbage in there. After throwing it out I put the blankets in the washer and made a grocery list.

I had to make a coffee stop. I couldn’t function without coffee. While I was waiting for my coffee my phone started ringing again. It was Pepper.

Right I was supposed to call her back.

“Hello.” I answered.

“Hey Riley, are you free right now?” She asked.

“I’m out running errands. So wide open. Everything okay?” I asked.

“Well as okay as everything can be with everything. I was calling to tell you there’s going to be a meeting at SI.” Pepper said.

“Another press conference I thought there wasn’t any news?” I asked.

“It a meeting for all employees specifically the ones that worked closely to Tony.” Pepper said.

“So you me and happy?” I said. 

“As well as some of the other department heads.” She said. 

“So people who work for SI?” I said. “I think I’m going to skip it.”

“What? Riley this is an important meeting.” She said.

“Yeah for SI employees.” I said.

“Who all work for Tony. The meetings in an hour. I’ll save you a seat.” Pepper said before hanging up.

“Guess I’m going to work.” I said looking down at what I was wearing.

Meh, Tony said the dress code was casual unless we were going to a black tie event or press conference. This was neither.

Honestly they were lucky I was even showing up.

_‘Tony really has rubbed off on you ‘ he said._

_‘I took the job for the science not the business.’ I said._

_‘It’s a part of it. You need to go, at least to stay in the loop.’ He said._

_‘There’s not much of a loop to be in.’ I said. ‘Everyone’s looking for him. No ones found anything. There’s no trace of him, No ransom or anyone taking credit for the attack. All anyone talks about is stock prices and sales figures. I’d rather be in a lab.’_

_‘At least your graduations coming up. Schools over.’ He said._

_‘Even more free time.’ I said dreading the thought._

“Double espresso for Riley?” The barista said.

I quickly grabbed it and headed to the office. The receptionist knew me from the times I had stopped by with Tony. She gave me a visitors pass before letting me through to the conference room.

Pepper was saving me a seat next to her in between her and Happy as she promised.

“Any clue he called this one?” I asked.

“The memo said interim CEO.” Happy said.

“Oh great dicks coming.” I said.

“Riley!” Pepper whisper shouted. “Behave.”

And then she slightly teared up. She normally did that with Tony. Pepper cleared her throat. 

“No news is good news right?” I said.

“Yeah this is probably going to be some more logistical stuff.” She said just as Dick walked in.

“Good Morning Everyone!” He cheered. For someone who once called Tony the closest thing to a son he had he was in a very good mood. “I know the past couple of days have been busy as we wait for news on Tony. But in the meantime life goes on and so does business. R&D will continue to operate as moral with all departments now reporting to Mike Winman.” He said.

Tony used to call him wingman because of his obsession with model planes and plane ties.

“With Tony gone it is more important now more than ever for us to stay on top of our game. We have a contract to fulfill. A country to keep safe. We have the most brilliant minds in our field working for us.” He said oddly looking right at me when he did.

_‘Uh oh. Troubles coming.’ I said._

_‘What happened?” he said._

_‘Dicks making pointed comments.’ I said._

_‘He is your new boss.’ He said._

_‘He’s not my boss.’ I said. ‘I work for Tony Stark not Stark industries.’_

_‘Isn’t that the same thing?’ He said._

_‘No.’ I said._

“As for the rest of you, everyone that worked closest to Tony don’t need to worry. Your jobs are safe. You will be reassigned to another position in the company.” He said. “Pepper your experience and how you’ve handled everything the last couple of days has been outstanding and PR would be lucky to have you.”

“Of course.” Pepper said politely.

“Happy, you will be a great addition to our security team. Obadiah said and Happy just nodded in answer. “Kid I haven’t forgotten about you…”

_‘I kind of wish he had…’ I thought._

_‘You don’t lose anything by hearing him out.’ He said._

_‘You ever met one of those people that for some reason just give you an off feeling?’ I said._

_‘All the time. Trust your gut but don’t rule him out completely you never know.’ He said._

“But we can talk more after the meeting.” He said with a smile.

A one on one talk. He was going to try and handle me the way he did Tony.

There was more talk of logistics. Before the meeting was over. Everyone cleared out to go back to work or to report to their new supervisor.

“You’ve been doing okay?” Pepper asked.

“Yeah I’m just finishing up my last assignments for school. You don’t have to worry about me Pepper.” I said. “I took care of myself for a long time.”

“I know.” She said before Obadiah cleared his throat to get our attention. “Sorry to interrupt ladies but I have a busy schedule…”

“Of course.” Pepper said. “I should get back to work. I’ll call you later.”

“Yeah.” I said. Pepper walked out leaving me alone with Dick.

“How’ve you been kid?” He asked.

“Oh you know waiting by the phone for an update or finishing up school.” I said.

“You’re graduating next week right?” he said. “After only a year. Tony was so proud of you.”

“I’m sure he is.” I said.

“You know I didn’t see what Tony saw in you before but I do now. You remind me a lot of him at your age.” Obadiah said. “Rebellious, sarcastic, a genius way ahead of his time. You’ve done amazing things in the short time you’ve worked with Tony. The improvements to Jarvis, putting him in a cell phone, the jet propulsion systems in the Jericho. Its all incredible.”

“Thanks.” I said.

“Tony once told me that you were going to have his job one day and everything you’ve done proves how right he was. And I think it’s only fitting that for the time being you be reassigned here.” He said. 

“That’s very generous of you.” I said. “But I already have a job, working for Tony.”

“You’re a smart kid. So I’m going to be honest with you. The odds of Tony being found are getting smaller and smaller everyday. And its becoming more likely that the only thing that will be coming home will be a body to bury. If we’re lucky.” He said not looking at all torn up about it. “You need to start looking out for yourself. I’m throwing you a life line kid.”

“What exactly would I be working on?” I said.

“Well the biggest division and the most important one would be weapons development. You know everything that goes on there as well as Tony did…” He started.

“I don’t do weapons.” I said.

“What?” He said.

“I don’t build weapons.” I said.

“I was told you helped develop the jet propulsion system…” He started.

“I did because I was thinking of its potential applications in aeronautics or a few other ideas. I helped with the flight systems not the part goes boom.” I said. “It’s the deal I made with Tony.”

“I strongly suggest you reconsider. Tony was wasting your brilliance keeping you locked away for himself. You have so much potential. I’ll admit I had my doubts when Tony took you in. I even hired someone to look into you. It was sad. Both of your parents dead in that horrible car accident and your were there. In the car with their bodies for hours while they cut you out of the wreckage. No family or anyone to take you in, just another foster kid being bounced around in the system, no one giving a kid like you a speck of attention, until you were 15 and got yourself emancipated. Then came Tony. He was like a father to you when you had no one else. You should be so grateful that a man like him even bothered with an orphan living in the gutter.”

_‘This fucking asshole really went there…’ I said trying to keep my face blank._

_‘What?’ He said._

“You owe it to Tony, after everything he’s done for you to protect his legacy. This company.” He said.

_‘He’s trying to guilt trip me by reminding me I’m an orphan and giving me all the gory details of the accident’ I said._

“Wow. You actually played the dead parents card.” I said. “Just when I though my opinion of you couldn’t get any lower.”

“Are you really so selfish…” He said.

“Says the guy trying to guilt trip an orphan by reminding her of her dead parents so you don’t go down a tax bracket.” I said. “I don’t build weapons. I build things to make the world a better place not to blow it up. I’m not working for you.”

“Be reasonable.” He said. “I’m looking out for you.”

“No you’re looking out for you.” I said. “I’m fine right where I am.”

“Look I was trying to be nice because I know this must be hard for you but I’m running out of patience and I have better things to do than sit here arguing with you. You don’t have a choice. You either take this job or you’re fired.” He said.

“Really?” I said with a smirk. “ I’d love to see you try.”

“I’m serious.” Obadiah said annoyed.

“So am I. I’m guessing you haven’t tried looking at my contract have you?” I said smiling. “You are interim CEO of Stark industries and can do whatever you want here but I don’t work here. I work for Tony.”

“Tony is Stark Industries!” He shouted.

“Not from a legal standpoint.” I said. “Your lawyers can take a look at it if you want but its iron clad. You can’t fire me. In fact the only person that can fire me is Tony.”

“But he can’t sign your paychecks!” he shouted again trying to intimidate me.

“I’ll live.’ I said as I started walking out. Considering the fact that I didn’t pay rent, basically lived at the mansion and only went home to sleep, plus my huge Christmas bonus that I hadn’t spent any of, I’d be okay for a while. I could actually go on vacation and I probably wouldn’t even put a dent in my savings.

“You’re going to regret this!” Obadiah shouted as I opened the door and everyone.

“Doubt it!” I called back as I flipped him off without even turning around.

**Third Person’s POV-**

“You’re gonna regret this!!!” Obadiah shouted as a young girl in grey shorts, a white top and a black vest walked out of the conference room. She looked extremely out of place amongst the sea of tailored suits and skirts.

“Doubt it!!!” She shouted back as she flipped him off without even looking back as she walked out of there.

Phil Coulson shared a look with his colleague Jasper Sitwell who was sitting next to him.

“Find out who the girl is.” He said in a low voice.

“Yes sir.” Sitwell answered.

“Mister Coulson, Mister Stane will see you now.” The assistant said.

“Of course.” Phil said standing up and following her.

By the time he got out of his meeting Sitwell had a whole dossier on Riley.

“That was a waste of time. Do you have anything?” Phil asked.

“I have an ID on the girl. Riley Sloan, born October 13th 1991. Orphan at age 4, was bounced around foster care for years until she got herself emancipated ” He said.

“She's sixteen?” Phil said.

“Yeah but the kids a genius. Like Fitzsimmons good maybe even smarter. She was actually on SHIELD’s radar as a potential recruit but Stark beat us to it.” Sitwell said. “He recruited her as his intern/lab assistant but the rumor around the office is that she’s more like his right hand man or girl in this case.”

“I heard the same thing about Pepper Potts.” Phil said.

“Potts handles more of the business end of things, the kid handles science and all the lab work.” He said.

“Might be worth it to pay her a visit.” Phil said.

**Days Later…**

It had been over two weeks since Tony disappeared. It also happened to be my graduation day.

I didn’t have anyone to invite so I had opted not to go. They were just going to mail me my certificate.

I was going stir crazy staying in my apartment with nothing to do so I chose to go to the coffee shop down the street and start looking at my job prospects in case… well worst case scenario.

It was not looking great. Lab assistant, paperwork…data entry…

Everyone wanted a masters or higher to actually get to do the fun cool stuff.

But I guess everyone had to start somewhere. 

I was filling out an application when a middle aged guy in a suit came over to me.

“Riley Sloane?” He said.

“Yeah?” I said not knowing who this guy was or what he wanted.

“I’m Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.” He said giving me a card.

_‘They really need a shorter name for that.” I said._

_‘For what?’ He asked._

_‘For the strategic homeland… I forgot the rest already. It’s a bit of a tongue twister.’ I said. ‘I think it spells out SHIELD?’_

_‘What!?’ He shouted._

“Whatever it is I didn’t do it.” I said. 

“You’re not in any trouble.” Agent Coulson said. “Do you have a moment? I was hoping we could talk.”

“Uh sure.” I said closing my laptop. “Is this about Tony? Because Pepper is the one handling the press and all communications about that.”

“I’ve already spoke to Miss Potts but as I understand it you and Mister Stark were rather close.” He asked.

“Well he’s my boss and mentor.” I said. “So you could say that.”

“I was sent in to evaluate the risk of Mister Stark revealing state secrets. As you know he designed most of our country’s defenses.” He asked.

“You think he’d commit treason?” I said.

“Anything is possible and Mister Stark does have a reputation for his… recklessness.” Agent Coulson said politely.

“I’ll admit he doesn’t really give the best first impression and his ego is taller than Mount Everest but he is one of the best person’s I’ve ever known and he’s loyal. He wouldn’t knowingly or willingly give up any information.” I said.

“Not even to save himself?” he asked.

“He'd probably give them a really sarcastic answer.” I said.

“Everyone I’ve talked to has said the same thing.” He admitted. “I’m not sure if I should bring this up or not. I was at Stark Industries earlier this week when you and Mister Stane met…”

“You saw me flip him off.” I said knowing what he was getting at.

“Were you arguing about Mister Stark?” he asked.

“No, Di- Stane and I have never gotten along. I work exclusively with Tony for that same reason. It was one of the conditions I put when I took the job. Since Tony is not around he wanted to put me to work in weapons development which I won’t do because I’m personally against building weapons that kill innocent civilians just because they’re unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tony did teach me all about it and I could do it which Stane wanted me to do but I won’t hence the screaming match and him trying to fire me.” I said and he just stared at me. 

“So you’re currently in between jobs?” Agent Coulson asked.

“Not currently but heading in that direction.” I said and he gave me a confused look. “Slight legal contract issue.”

“Ah.” He said in understanding. “Then I came at the perfect time. You’ve actually been on our radar for a few years now. We think you’d be a great asset for our organization.”

_‘Uh I think the government is trying to recruit me.’ I said._

_‘The uh… Shield people?’ He said_

_‘Yeah if I disappear or… I guess I die and you never hear from me assume some guy named Phil Coulson kidnapped me and killed me.’ I said._

_‘P-phil Coulson?’ he said sounding weird._

_‘Yeah. Are you okay? You sound weird.’ I asked._

_‘Y-yeah I uh… working calling I'll be back…’ He said._

“I’m sorry what exactly besides a huge tongue twister is your organization?” I asked.

“We deal with threats that normal law enforcement agencies like the FBI, CIA, and everyone else don’t know how to. We have a huge R&D division where you’d fit right in.” He said.

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“Just a feeling.” He said as his phone started going off. He quickly silenced it but it rang again. “You probably have a lot going on right now but if you want to talk some more about it. You have my number. Thanks for your time.”

“No problem.” I said before he left. I looked down at the card.

_‘Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division… why don’t they just call it SHIELD?’ I said._

_‘No clue. You still… not kidnapped?’ He asked_

_‘Safe for now. I’ll let you know if that changes.” I said._

_‘Yeah do that.’ He said sounding uneasy._

I probably would have forgotten about it and I actually did for a while but then came the week from hell.

Dick had decided that it was time to call off the search he wanted to have Tony declared dead. Of course everyone shut that down really fast. Mostly Rhodey who said that unless he found a body Tony was still alive.

Of course he then turned his attention to me. It started off with an ambush at lunch. Pepper and I had met up to catch up and because she felt bad about missing my graduation even though that was all on me.

Then came him trying to bribe me. Sending me incredibly expensive gifts and huge salary offers.

When that didn’t work he threatened to sue and tried intimidating me by calling me to a meeting at SI with him and his lawyers. It was all for show because they knew there was no case.

I thought that would be the end of it. I also thought they would have found Tony by now but life is full of disappointments.

I was at home one night watching a friends rerun debating whether Ross and Rachel were really on a break right now when it happened.

_‘They were on a break.’ He said._

_‘Break from the relationship or break from the fight.’ I said._

_‘The relationship duh…’ he said._

_‘I’m not so sure I mean Rachel genuinely loved Ross. There was nothing going on with…’ I started._

“Front Door Open.” The automated security system said.

_‘Front door open?’ I said getting out of bed to see what was going on._

_‘What?’ he asked._

_‘Security system just said…’ I said as I walked down the hallway and saw the reflection of the mirror I hung there showing armed guys in my living room. ‘Someone’s in the apartment!’_

_‘Go back to your room now!’ he said_.

I did as I was told but it was too late. I took a wrong step and the floor creaked. They saw me and I ran but then I heard this high pitched sound and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I collapsed onto the floor.

 _‘I…I can’t move. I can’t breathe. They saw me.’ I said_.

Then one of them grabbed me and forcefully flipped me forcefully making me wince, well I would have if I could move.

_‘Hey its okay. Just breathe. Breathe.’ He said._

_‘I can’t.’ I said. ‘I can’t move.’_

One of them grabbed my foot and dragged me to the living room as I tried to no avail to move away.

“Is this her?” one of them asked.

“She’s the kid from the photo.” The other said.

“Shes a looker.” He said before yanking me up so I was standing and held against him. “We could have some fun with her”

_‘ew ew ew. Get your fucking hands off of me you creep!!’_

_‘Whats going on?!’ He screamed freaking out._

‘They want he back in one piece.’ The other said.

Then I heard gunshots and my shoulder was burning before I hit the floor.

“MH!!!” I groaned still not being able to move. Then guys in suits swarmed in.

“All clear.” One of them called out.

There she is someone said before I saw Agent Coulson.

“Riley?” He said. Kneeling down next to me and pressing on what I then realized was a gunshot wound. 

_‘I got shot. Oh fuck I got shot!’ I thought._

_‘You got shot!’ he said._

_‘It fucking hurts and I can barely breathe and I still can’t move what is happening to me!!!’ I shouted._

“Riley can you look at me?” Agent Coulson said. I moved my eyes but I couldn’t move the rest of my body. I could wiggle my fingers a bit. “Order med evac, gunshot to the left shoulder. Bleeding ears and some sort of paralysis. 

I tried talking. Slowly I was starting to regain movement as I started gasping.

“Riley. Don’t talk…” Coulson said. “The ambulance is on its way…”

“S-s-so…” I started.

“She’s trying to say something.” Another beady eyed agent said.

“So.. about t-th-at J-job…” I choked out. Coulson grinned a bit.

“We can talk after we get you to the hospital.” Coulson said as his phone rang. He reached Into his pocket and pulled it out. Whoever it was they were loud and my ears were still ringing. “We got her and the paramedics just got here. I’ll call when I have an update.”

They loaded me up and took me straight to the hospital. Between the paralysis wearing off and them having me on a lot of really strong drugs while they took me into surgery, I was out until morning.

“Uh…” I groaned when I woke up.

“Good morning sleepy head.” A nurse said.

“Hi…” I said still pretty out of it.

“Any pain?” She asked.

“I feel floaty.” I said.

“That’s normal, I’m going to get you some ice chips. I’ll be back in a minute.” She said.

_‘Mhm.’ I said._

_‘You’re awake?’ He asked._

_‘Think so. Might be stoned.’ I said making him laugh._

_‘Scared the crap out of me last night.’ He said._

_‘I think this might be a sign I need to make some changes. ‘ I said._

_‘Don’t do anything crazy. Think things through.’ He said._

_‘I don’t think there’s anything left for me here. And this week has just been… I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.’ I said._

_‘You went through some big trauma. Take a minute to regroup.’ He said._

_‘There is no group. Its just me the way its always been. I’m tired of being alone and I got shot. What the fuck is up with that?’ I said._

_‘They have you on the really good stuff.” He said_.

‘ _so good.’ I said before I started singing. ‘Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows_  
 _Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when they pump me full of drug…’_

_He started laughing._

_‘Go back to sleep. You’ll feel better and more sober.’ He said._

_‘I hope not.’ I said as I turned on my side and slowly drifted back to sleep._


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone just wanted to apologize again for any typos. Typing on a phone is not easy especially with auto correct. Any way here's a short yet momentous chapter. Enjoy.

I woke up a few hours later. A lot more sober unfortunately which meant I was starting to feel pain in my shoulder. It wasn’t as bad as it was last night. Still hard to get comfortable though.

_‘I think daytime TV sucks more in hospitals than it does at home.’ I said._

_‘It doesn’t help that the pain killers wore off.’ He said. ‘How’s the pain?’_

_‘Not too bad. Just hard to get comfortable. And this sling is worse than a bra that doesn’t fit right.’ I said._

_‘I don’t know what that’s like but the sling can be annoying.’ He said._

“Good morning is this a bad time?” Agent Coulson said.

“No perfect timing I don’t know how many more soap operas I can take before I make a break for it.” I said.

“The men that broke into your apartment are in our custody. Apparently someone hired them to go after you.” He asked.

“Did they say who?” I asked.

“They don’t know. There was a middle man were trying to track down. They were paid through a wire transfer from the Cayman Islands which is…” he said.

“Where everyone hides their money because it’s a tax haven.” I said and Coulson gave me a look. “I picked up some business insights from Tony.”

“Obviously but what we still can’t figure out is how they got their hands on this.” He said taking out a plastic bag with some sort of recorder thing.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Our engineers took a look at it. The device emits a high frequency sound that causes temporary paralysis.” He explained. “Figured that out when one of the lab techs set it off and paralyzed the lab.”

“But the guys that broke in weren’t paralyzed.” I said.

“They were wearing special ear plugs that blocked the sound.” He said. “Not something a regular burglar or kidnapper could get their hands on.”

“Must be well connected.” I said.

“Which leads me to my next question who do you know who would want to do something like this to you?” Agent Coulson asked.

“The only person I’ve pissed off recently is Obadiah Stane… he’s a dick but I don’t think he’s that big of a dick.” I said. 

“We can’t rule out any possibilities.” He said. 

“True. Speaking of is that job you offered still on the table?” I said and he looked surprised.

“I didn’t know if you were serious.” Agent Coulson said.

“After the week I’ve had, I’m more than serious. As much as I would love to sit around and hope Tony comes back… I’m going crazy sitting around doing nothing.” I said. “And in the past week I’ve been ambushed by notaries pushing me to sign a new job contract, delivery guys who refuse to return the expensive gifts to try and bribe me into signing said contract and when that didn’t work I was ambushed by an army of lawyers. Then I got shot so, I had the worst week ever and it might be time for a change.”

“I was going to suggest you consider staying with a friend or a hotel but if you are looking for a new job. SHIELD has a very generous compensation package. Including a relocation package.” He said.

“That all sounds great but the job itself…” I said.

“It’s a lot of R and D with whatever else comes up.” He said. “Unlimited resources at your disposal.”

“My policy on weapons stands. I won’t build missiles.” I said.

“We wouldn’t ask you to.” He said. “How about I set up a tour of our facilities and we can talk more then?”

“Sounds good.” I said.

“We’ll be in touch.” He said before leaving for some other meeting.

_‘Didn’t you say you were going to think about it?’ He said._

_‘I did think about it, while I was paralyzed and they dug the bullet out of my shoulder.’ I said. ‘I don’t have anything keeping me here in LA and I don’t want to build weapons so why not?’_

_‘And they’re not going to make you build weapons?’ He asked._

_‘I haven’t agreed to anything. I’m getting the tour and I’ll negotiate terms and I know get everything in writing.’ I said._

_‘Why don’t you just take some personal time. You had a rough week. Go away for a while. Travel. Go to Hawaii. You’ve always wanted to go to Hawaii.’ He said._

_‘You’re acting weird again.’ I said. ‘That’s been happening a lot lately. What’s going on with you?’_

_‘Nothing I’m just worried about you. Its been a rough month.’ He said._

_‘I’ve been through worse. Though this is the first time I’ve been shot.’ I said. ‘I can’t stay here.’_

_‘I know.’ He said. ‘No matter where you end up you’re going to be great.’_

_‘Yeah…wonder where they’ll send me.’ I said. ‘Some underground bunker?’_

_‘Antartica?’ He teased._

_‘I did love march of the penguins.’ I said._

_‘Maybe well end up in the same time zone.’ He said._

_‘We’ll finally stop keeping each other up at night.’ I said._

_‘I doubt that happen.’ He said._

_‘Yeah… you’re never in one place long enough to have a sleep schedule.’ I said._

_‘And you’re an insomniac.’ He reminded me._

_‘I hope they discharge me before lunch. Hospital food is the worst.’ I said._

_‘If they ask what jello you want get red always for red.’ He said._

_‘Ew jello, do you know how they make it?’ I asked._

_‘You’ve got to stop watching food documentaries.’ He said._

_‘There’s nothing else on tv. ‘ I said_.

**A Week Later…**

_‘I’m going to die.’ I said._

_‘Would you relax?’ He asked._

_‘Kind of hard considering the plane could fall apart at any second.’ I said. ‘How is there so much freaking turbulence.’_

_‘You shouldn’t have watched final destination last night.’ He said with a sigh._

_‘I couldn’t sleep.’ I said gripping the arm rest of my seat._

SHIELD had decided to fly me into DC to get a tour of their facilities. Apparently they were planning on putting me to work in either DC or New York depending on how today went. No idea what that meant. So here I was flying first class hoping the plane didn’t crash.

_‘Think of it this way you have a higher chance of being in a car accident than a plane crash.’ He said._

_‘I’ve been in a car accident before why you say that?!’ I shrieked._

_‘Sorry sorry… okay how about I tell you about some good spots in DC?’ He said._

_‘Go there often?’ I asked._

_‘You could say that.’ He said as they announced we were about to land._

_‘List them fast we’re about to land. ‘ I said._

_‘National mall where all the monuments. The Smithsonian which is like a museum of everything. There’s a Good spot too see the cherry blossoms everyone likes but that was a few months ago… I know a good diner with the best milk shakes on main…’ He said._

Then the plane landed.

_‘okay on the ground.’ I said._

_‘Better?’ He asked._

_‘Loads. So those milkshakes…’ I said._

I got off the plane with my carry on and went to go meet the driver they sent for me. He didn’t say much. By his posture and the formality I was guessing he was former military and probably annoyed he was stuck driving me around.

I sent Pepper a text letting her know my plane had landed. She wasn’t totally happy I was considering other jobs but she understood why I was doing it. She was so in love with Tony but so in denial about it.

We went to my hotel to drop off my things before driving to SHIELD's offices. I was surprised to see they had their own island in the Potomac with a huge three tower building.

We went right in and were greeted by Agent Coulson and the other guy that was normally with him.

“Good morning Miss Sloane.” He said.

“Agent Coulson. Agent.” I said to the other one. 

“How’s the shoulder ?” Coulson asked.

“A bit sore but better. Thank you.” I said.

“You’re going to need this.” He said handing me a visitors pass as his phone started buzzing which he immediately ignored. “If you’ll follow me.”

**Elsewhere in the Triskelion…**

Natasha was in the gym stretching and getting ready to spar while Clint anxiously paced back and forth as he called Coulson for the tenth time in a row and kept getting sent to voice-mail.

“Coulson still not answering?” She asked. “He can’t do anything about getting us a mission any faster.”

“I know.” Clint said.

“Then why are you…oh.” She said figuring it out. “Today’s the day.”

“Its just a normal day.” Clint said quickly.

“She's coming today.” Natasha said eying Clint and how anxious he was. “She’s here right now.”

“Nat.” Clint warned.

“Give me a minute I can find Coulson.” She said taking out her phone.

“No!” Clint said grabbing her phone but she quickly moved away.

“Clint. She’s her.” Natasha said. “You talk to her all the time.”

“Its not the right time.” He said.

“Why not? She’s right here. I can get her on camara.” Natasha said.

“She’s a kid.” Clint said.

“And?” Natasha said.

“She shouldn’t even be here.” He said.

“She was already on Shield’s radar. One way or another she would have gotten here.” Natasha said.

“She’s still a kid.” Clint said.

“You’re just going to meet her not marry her.” Natasha said as she got into the security camara. “Don’t you want to at least know her name?”

“I’m not going to force anything.” He said.

“She’s two floors above us.” Natasha deadpanned. “She’s pretty.”

“Nat!” Clint said.

“Just because you don’t want to see her doesn’t mean I can’t.” She said. “Weren’t you supposed to go up there to see if they were done working on your new bow?”

“I can go tomorrow.” Clint said.

“Maybe I should see if they can fix my gauntlets?” Natasha said.

“There’s nothing wrong with your gauntlets.” Clint said.

“There is now.” She said running out.

“Uh…” Clint groaned. He knew he couldn’t stop Natasha and as much as he didn’t think now was the best time to meet her he couldn’t help but be curious about her. He’d known her for her entire life. But at the same time he didn’t.

Just because he wasn’t ready to meet her didn’t mean he couldn’t see her. No that was creepy and stalkers.

But he could tail Coulson to make sure she knew the whole picture of what was going on and wasn’t pressured into taking the job.

Its what a good friend would do.

Clint looked around and saw the opening for the vents. That could work.

**Meanwhile…**

We took the tour of the lobby before heading to HR to sign an NDA… well three NDAs before the tour officially started.

There were many jobs in Shield. All of their tech was top of the line. Well top of the line for them. Once you get used to holograms displaying information and an AI running your life, a table that’s also a computer screen doesn’t really surprise you.

“Next up we have the hanger.” He said.

“Why do you have planes here if you don’t have a runway?” I asked.

“We don’t need one.” Coulson said as we arrived just in time to see a jet leave the hanger and take off vertically.

“A vertical takeoff.” I said. “How, normally a jet need to pick up speed in order to start the turbine before the fuel system takes over?”

“Our engineers thought of a better way. They’re called quinjets.” He said.

“Is it just the takeoff or is it faster too?” I asked.

“I believe it does cut down on travel time. I don’t know the exact numbers but I’m sure one of our engineers could tell you.” He said leading me back.

“I actually told Tony we should think about applying the flight systems we developed for the Maverick and the Jericho onto a jet but we got side tracked on with other things.” I said.

“I’m sure our engineers would be more than happy to take any suggestions you may have for them.” He said as we got into the elevator. “You should meet Fitzsimmons. They should be in their lab right now. They were the youngest graduates from our academy.”

“So Fitzsimmons are two people?” I said slightly confused as the elevator stopped.

“Yes, Gemma Simmons is bio chem and Leo Fitz is engineering.” He explained a s a woman with long red curly hair stepped into the elevator.

She was not the tallest person but something about her just screamed at you not to take her lightly. And for some reason she was staring g at me. Eying me up and down.

“Coulson.” She greeted.

“Agent Romanoff.” He greeted with a nod. She looked at him then back at me before looking back to him. The elevator got really quiet.

“That’s a great view.” I said looking out to the Potomac.

“You like heights?” She said with a small grin.

“I like a nice view.” I said before the elevator dinged and the door opened and we stepped out along with Agent Romanoff.

“You’re also going to Engineering?” Coulson asked.

“My gauntlets are acting up.” She said.

“They were working fine yesterday.” He said.

“Not today.” She said as we kept walking. “How old are you?”

“Sixteen.” I answered confused about why she was asking.

“And you’re an engineer?” She asked.

“I skipped a few grades.” I said. 

“Hmm.” She hummed eying me up and down. “I like your shoes.”

“Thanks.” I said as we walked into the lab.

“Fitzsimmons.” Agent Coulson said.

“Agent Coulson, how nice to see you.” A young woman with her hair in a ponytail and an English accent greeted.

“We didn’t know you were…agent Romanoff!” a man with dark blonde or light brown hair said in a Scottish accent. “H-hi.”

Agent Romanoff just gave him a slight grin and a nod.

“Fitzsimmons this is Riley Sloane. She’s considering coming to work for us.” Agent Coulson.

“Nice to meet you.” Simmons said.

“Nice to meet you too.” I said as I shook their hands.

“So what do you do Riley” Fitz asked.

“Engineering and coding. My specialty is AI technology but I’m branching out.” I said.

“AI? Wait Riley Sloane… you’re that Riley Sloane! Your Android prototype won the National robotics competition last year.” He said. “You probably could have won the world competition if you had entered. What have you been up to since then?”

“I transferred to Cal Tech and took an internship.” I said before something caught my eye. “Are those mini drones?”

“It’s a pet project of mine, the dwarfs. Drones wirelessly automated to retrieve forensics.” He said. “They’re still a work in progress.”

“is it each an individual or do they all work cohesively?” I asked.

“Both actually. Each one is supposed to have a specific function like recording the specific layout of a room. Another tests soil composition, we even have one for smell.” Gemma said.

“A drone with mechanical olfactory senses could come in handy in case there's a biohazard.” I said.

“Exactly, Fitz thought it would be completely unnecessary.” Simmons said.

“I said we’d rarely used it and it would take more coding which would make the system lag.” Fitz said.

“Not if you compress the code using the Gaites compression algorithm.” I said.

“Would that work?” He asked.

“That’s how I program facial cue recognition.” I said.

“That could actually work” Fitz said grabbing his tablet.

“ehem…” Coulson cleared his throat.

“Oh right. Got to finish the tour.” I said. “it was nice meeting you both.”

“So nice to meet you too.” Simmons said.

“And if you do end up taking the job feel free to stop by whenever you want.” Fitz said.

“Thanks.” I said a scientist or engineers work space was like holy ground. They didn’t just let anyone in. To be invited back was like the ultimate seal of approval.

We headed out of the lab as Agent Romanoff walked behind us while she texted someone.

“Those two make a really cute couple.” I said.

“Oh they’re not…” Coulson said.

“Really? I could have sworn they were.” I said.

“They’ve known each other since the academy, both were at the top of their class and graduated three years early.” He said. “You seemed to really…”

Then all of a sudden there was this strange creak crash from above us in the ceiling before the ceiling caved in.

“Whoa!” A guy screamed before he landed in front of us with a thud.

“Idiot” Natasha muttered.

“Is that a regular thing here?” I asked wondering if people crawled around the vents and crashed down often.

“Its not the first time.” Coulson said looking like a dad who’s kid had just embarrassed him. “Agent Barton.”

“C-coulson. Hey…” he said awkwardly while Natasha was struggling to keep a straight face and not laugh.

“Riley this is Agent Clint Barton. He’s Agent Romanoff’s partner. Clint this is Riley Sloane.” Coulson said as Clint stood up brushing the plaster and dust off of his clothes.

“Hi.” I said offering my hand.

“Hey…” he said as he slowly and hesitantly reached out with his shaking hand and gently grasped mine while staring into my eyes with his storm grey eyes.

The second our hands touched it was like I had touched a live wire. And I could hear him clearer than before.

_‘Her eyes are so green.’ He said_

“Its you.” I said still not letting go of his hand. 

“Yeah…” He said still staring at me in shock while not letting go of my hand either.

“Maybe we should take this conversation somewhere else?” Coulson strongly suggested.

“Right.” Clint said letting go of my hand.

_‘Sorry too many people.’ He said._

_‘Its okay, we didn’t want to break the record for longest handshake anyway.’ I said._

“Barton my office.” Coulson said. “Natasha why don’t you take Riley back to her hotel.”

“Well get lunch first.” Natasha said gently putting her arm around me and leading me away before I got a word in.  
I looked back and Clint was just staring at me still in shock.

The feeling was going around. This was not how I saw my day going or how I imagine this would happen if it ever did.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys I've got some good news, my laptop has been fixed! I don't think I've ever gone this long without a computer. I might actually sleep hugging this thing. Anyway this also means I can start adding photos like I do with my other stories. There should also be less typos and I can start working on my other stories. It's a good thing I got into the habit of backing up my files.
> 
> Anyway here's the next chapter... It's a bit shorter, kind of thought it'd be longer when I got my laptop back but something about not having a word count when you type makes you write more without trying.
> 
> Enjoy :)

**Triskelion…**

Clint marched up to Coulson’s office both of them not saying a word. Coulson had an unreadable look on his face. Clint didn’t know what was going on with him.

_‘I finally get everything you ever said about Nat.’ She said. ‘She’s terrifying.’_

_‘She just has a really good poker face.’ He said trying to reassure her. ‘You’re not the one about to get yelled at.’_

_‘You did crash through a ceiling. What were you even doing in the vents anyway.’ She said._

_‘Uh…’ Clint started before they walked into Coulson’s office. ‘I’ll get back to you on that. Lecture's about to start.’_

“So is there something you want to tell me?” Coulson asked.

“Uh… sorry about the ceiling?” Clint asked.

“No I meant what happened with the 16 year old engineering prodigy downstairs. You know the one you mysteriously knew was in trouble and insisted I go help weeks ago and who Natasha can’t stop asking about?” He asked.

“She’s uh… Riley is my soul mate.” Clint admitted.

“She’s that…huh.” Coulson said. “She’s young.”

“Yeah which is why I didn’t think now was a good time to meet her but that didn’t happen.” He said.

“You probably shouldn’t have been in the vents.” Coulson asked.

“I wanted to make sure she got the whole picture before giving an answer.” Clint said.

“You don’t want her to take the job.” Coulson said realizing what Clint was trying to do.

“She’s a kid.” Clint said.

“That’s the last word I’d use to describe her. She’s smart and can make her own decisions.” He said.

“And that’s the problem. If she joins SHIELD and becomes a part of everything else that comes with it she'll never be safe again.” Clint said. “She deserves better than that.”

“Are you talking about SHIELD or you?” Coulson asked.

“Both.” Clint answered.

“Then you need to talk to her.” Coulson said. “Be honest with her. You can keep her safe Clint but pushing her away isn’t the way to do it.”

**Meanwhile..**

I was starting to realize that Tony was not the worst driver in the world. In fact compared to Natasha who was swerving around traffic at full speed, he was careful driver.

“Are you craving anything?” She said casually as she cut someone off.

“Uh… I heard there’s a good diner with the best milkshakes on main?” I suggested.

“I could go for a milkshake.” She said making a sharp left turn. “Do you have a boyfriend? Or are you seeing anyone?”

Wow she was not pulling any punches here.

“No boyfriend. Completely single and I don’t really date.” I said.

“Why?” She asked.

“Busy with work.” I said.

“Are you going to take the job?” Natasha asked.

“I’m thinking about it.” I said.

“Did meeting Clint change that?” She asked.

“It’s a big decision there’s a lot to think about.” I said. “It’s not easy to just pick up and move across the country.”

“You can just hire movers.” She said. I’m getting the impression someone really wants me to move here.

“What has he told you about me?” I asked.

“Nothing I didn’t already figure out.” She said. “Smart but not in a way that you rub it in everyone’s face, hard worker, sarcastic which to put up with Clint in your head your entire life you’d have to be, resilient… the only bad thing he ever complained about is what a bad insomniac you are.”

“He said you were perceptive and always looked out for him. You’ve had your hands full.” I said and she smiled.

“I have so many stories to tell you.” Natasha said.

“I can imagine.” I said as we pulled up to the restaurant.

“He’s a mess but he’s also the best guy I know.” Natasha said.

“I know he’s kind of always looked out for me. Not in the normal sense but he’s been there.” I said.

“You two do talk a lot. That’s also how I know never to let you pick the music.” She said.

“There’s nothing wrong with the classics.” I said.

“It is when you’re stuck on a stakeout with Clint and he’s singing the same song off tune over and over again.” She said.

“He has a nice voice.” I said.

“You’re both tone deaf.” She deadpanned making me chuckle as we walked in.

We sat at a booth that was far back, with a good view of the front and back exits. One of my foster dads was an army vet with similar paranoid tendencies but Natasha was a bit more subtle about it. It was still a weird habit to have.

We ordered our milkshakes and some food while we were at it.

“So I have to ask, what was Clint doing in the vents?” I said.

“He does that sometimes.” She said. “He likes heights and being able to keep an eye on things without being involved.”

“That’s why you made that comment in the elevator.” I said. “Which means you knew who I was before he crashed in.”

“I did he didn’t. You mentioned meeting Coulson to him and I got into his itinerary and saw who he met with and looked you up.” She said.

“You do know how creepy stalking is right?” I asked.

“All part of the job.” She said.

“You make it sound like you’re a spy.” I said as a joke. Natasha just stared at me like a deer in the headlights. “No…”

“Riley.” Natasha started.

“You’re not because that would mean he's…” I started and then I started thinking back to what Shield was. The organization that took care of everything the other guys couldn’t. Then I started thinking back to every conversation I’ve ever had with Clint. How he was always traveling and couldn’t say where he was. How he kept offering to shoot people for me. How he said he was supposed to kill his best friend but changed his mind and gave her a chance to convince me to give people a chance. “Oh Fuck.”

_‘He’s a spy’ I said._

_‘What?’ Clint answered._

“Shit. I wasn’t supposed to say anything.” Natasha said before her phone rang. “It’s him. Roma…”

I was kind of in shock. So the guy that’s always been in my head literally crashed into my life through a ceiling and happens to be a spy or possibly worse considering all the times he offered to shoot someone for me. I always thought he was kidding. I reached over and grabbed my milk shake holding it in both hands as I sucked on the straw while I processed.

Natasha went outside to talk to Clint on the phone. She paced back and forth on the sidewalk outside the diner. Meanwhile I dealt with things the way I normally did. With tons of ice cream. In this case milkshakes.

_‘Riley I promise I’ll explain everything just… wait.’ Clint started._

I needed to think and process and try not to freak out even though I was not doing too well on that front.

“That was Clint. He’s on his way and with the way he drives he should be here in a few minutes.” Natasha said staring at me as I devoured a milkshake without pausing for a breath before ordering another one.

Natasha kept trying to make conversation but it was pretty one sided as I kept drinking milkshakes. I think I was on my third one by the time Clint arrived.

Natasha jumped out of her seat when she saw him. I didn’t move. I just kept slurping my drink.

“Hey Riley.” He said slipping into Natasha’s seat. “So… I have some… a lot of explaining to do. Milkshakes are really good huh?”

I just stared straight ahead and kept drinking my milkshake until I got to the big Oreo chunks at the bottom of the glass. Once I ate those I carefully put the glass down and stared at the table trying to figure out what to say.

“Y-you’re a spy… or assassin or …spyssassin? Not sure that’s a thing but…” I started. “It probably could be a thing…”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds.” He said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Uh…” Clint started. “Okay I do, do that but I do it for the right reasons.”

“I… I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that. I mean you’ve told me some crazy things over the years and I knew or thought you were kidding because there’s no way that story about running away to join the circus is true I mean…” I started and Clint just looked at me awkwardly. “Oh shit… that, that actually happened?”

“Yeah…” Clint said rubbing the back of his neck.

“A-And the part about your brother being a back stabber….” I said.

“He literally stabbed me in the back.” He admitted.

“I think I need another milkshake.” I said.

“Or maybe I should just explain. Everything.” Clint said.

“Clint when you would ask me if I wanted you to shoot someone for me, I used to think it was this cute inside joke between us and turns out you actually do do that. I don’t know if I want to know everything.” I said watching him flinch like he was in pain as I admitted it.

“It’s my job I don’t just go out and shoot people for fun.” He said. “I’m still the same guy you always talk to you just… know what I do for a living. I work for the government it just so happens that the government sometimes has me go out and shoot people.”

“I don’t know what to say to that.” I said.

“Guys in the army do it all the time.” He said.

“Except you do it for a super secret shady government organization no ones ever heard of that supposedly deals with the stuff other known shady government organizations can’t.” I said.

“Pretty much.” He said and I just stared at him. That didn’t help at all. “Look you’ve always been honest with me and you deserve the same so how about I tell you everything. You can ask me whatever you want and if after that you never want to see or hear from me again then I’ll leave you alone.”

“Okay.” I said as the server came over.

“Another two milkshakes please.” He asked before getting started. “So I was born in Iowa that part was true and my parents died in a car accident when I was a kid….”

He told me everything. And I mean everything. The deadbeat dad. Backstabbing older brother. Joining the circus, learning to use his preferred weapon, the bow. The life of crime and his time as a hired hitman. Being recruited by Agent Coulson to work for SHIELD instead of going to jail. Being sent out to kill Natasha but instead opting to go against his orders and giving her a second chance. The first time he ever heard me, what happened the day those guys broke into my apartment.

By the time he got through everything it was almost time for dinner. Not that I was actually hungry. Four milkshakes tended to really fill you up.

“And that’s everything up until today.” He said.

“That explains everything except for one thing, what were you even doing in the vents to begin with?” I asked.

“Uh… with everything you’ve told me About working for Tony, where you went to school and the fact that you met with Coulson last week I could have looked you up and found you but I didn’t want to rush it. You had your life and mine’s kind of a mess so I was going to let it be. Natasha didn’t agree and accidentally on purpose ran into you. I didn’t think we should meet but I was… curious so I watched you through the vents until I fell through the ceiling.” He said.

“You do know how crazy that makes you seem right?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He said.

“And you didn’t want to meet me but we’re here.” I said.

“It just happened.” Clint said with a grin.

“So what now?” I asked.

“That’s up to you.” He said. “Do you want me to go?”

“Full honesty, I considered running away around the time you started talking about your best friend almost killing you.” I said. “But she bought me lunch and she had a ton of openings to kill me between here and the office so I figured I was safe. And you did save my life by calling Coulson which thanks by the way.”

“Anytime.” Clint said.

“Not really sure what comes next with us though. I mean we met but…” I said not knowing what comes after.

“Do you want me around?” He asked.

“Well yeah. You know everything about me. Too much. If we stopped being friends I’d have to kill you.” I said with a straight face. Clint stared at me before I started laughing.

“We’re making jokes about it already?” Clint asked with a grin.

“You never really lied to me. You just said it to me in a way that made me believe you were kidding.” I said. “Plus who am I to judge, I help make weapons of mass destruction.”

“Does that mean you’re taking the job?” Clint asked.

“It’s kind of the best option I have right now.” I said and he made a face. “I know you don’t want me to take the job but…”

“It’s not that.” He said. “You’d be great at it and if it’s something you want you should do it but taking the job puts you a lot closer than I’d want you to be to what I do.”

“It’s not like I’d be with you on your jobs.” I said.

“I wasn’t always on the right side of things and when I switched sides I made a lot more enemies.” Clint said. “I want to be around but doing this… going out in public where anyone can see us that puts you in danger.”

“How would it work then?” I asked.

“This might be the last time we do this.” He said. “At least in DC. If you take the job we wouldn’t sit at the same table in the cafeteria. We wouldn’t talk unless it was work related. If we hung out it’d be somewhere no one would see us.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit… much?” I asked.

“Riley. I’m serious.” Clint said. “I’ve done a lot of things that have pissed off the wrong people. If they knew about you, they wouldn’t think twice about using you to get to me.”

“So we’d be friends who sneak around so no one knows we’re friends?” I asked.

“It’s the way it has to be.” He said.

“Then nothing changes.” I said.

“We’d hang out just not…” Clint started.

“Where anyone could see us?” I finished for him. “Which we already do. And no one knows about us. Except your best friend and Coulson. And whoever saw the security feed of you falling through the ceiling?”

“Coulson already took care of that.” He said and I just gave him a look.

“When you say take care of it…” I started.

“He deleted the tape.” Clint said.

“You guys work fast.” I said.

“Part of the job.” He said.

“Right.” I said standing up. “You know what, I should probably just go.”

“Riley…” he started.

“Clint. You dropped a lot on me. I mean you literally fell out of the ceiling, confessed you’re a government assassin, your best friend is a former KGB ballerina that can probably kill people with nothing but her pinky and you basically told me my life is in danger just by being seen with you. I need to think on it okay?” I said grabbing my jacket. “Thanks for lunch.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, happy belated Christmas. Hanukkah, or any other holiday celebrated that I might not know about that you celebrate. Not sure if anyone here reads any of my other stories but I apparently updated my story, time traveling is complicated, last night when I was drunk and slightly stoned... apparently pot brownies and whiskey don't go together. I apologize and should probably post this on my other story but I'm going to do that when I have an update for it.
> 
> In the meantime here's another update for this story. It's a bit slow and more of a set up for the future. Let me know what you think.

With that I walked out. My hotel wasn’t too far. That or I was too distracted to really notice how long and much I was walking. I got to my room and just faceplanted into the bed and let out a loud groan.

The whole point of this trip was to get away from the insane mess in California not jump into a completely different one. I was going to take the trip, milk all the free amenities I could out of them and play hard to get to get a good deal out of them.

Not meeting Clint, finding out he was an assassin and being told that if I’m ever seen with him in public again someone might try to kill me.

The world had gone to shit in one month. Maybe I should have gone with Tony to Afghanistan… of course I’d probably be dead if I had so… not the best plan.

I mean it was great to meet Clint in person and finally have a face and name to the voice in my head but… Fuck.

“Fuck.” I said out loud.

Then my phone started ringing. I reached over and flipped it up to see who it was.

Pepper.

She was probably calling to see if I had made a decision since Dick was probably asking her about it.

“Hey Pep.” I answered.

“Hey sweetie. How’d the tour go?” She asked.

“It was… good. They’re doing some incredible things here.” I said. “And I actually like DC. I went to this diner with the best milkshakes.”

“So you’re actually considering it?” She asked.

“I’m still debating it. There are just a lot of things up in the air right now…” I said thinking about Clint.

_‘Man it’d be nice to talk to Clint about this…’ I thought. ‘Pretty sure he wouldn’t want me to take the job though…”_

“Well whatever they’re doing it’s not something you couldn’t do here.” She said.

“I signed an NDA so no.” I said. “Besides there’s not really anything left for me in LA.”

“Riley don’t say that.” Pepper said.

“Sorry it’s just…” I said taking a breath.

“I know.” She said. “I miss him too. Don’t ever tell him I said that.”

“As long as you don’t tell him I did too.” I said making her laugh. “I haven’t decided anything.”

“You sound like you already did.” She said.

“It’s complicated.” I said. “Everything’s… different here. I might actually have a dress code here.”

_‘Like Kevlar.’ I thought._

_‘We actually have our own type. It’s lighter. Still tight.’ He said from behind me._

I turned and saw him standing on the other side off the bed.

“Ah!” I shrieked.

“Riley?” Pepper said.

“Sorry room service knocked on my door. Wasn’t expecting it. Can I call you back later there’s another call on the other line and it might be the job?” I said quickly.

“Oh of course.” She said before I quickly hung up.

_“What are you doing in my room?!” I whisper shouted._

_“I’m not in your room you’re in my apartment.” He said. “How did you get in?”_

_“Clint I’m in my hotel room.” I said not knowing what he was talking about._

_“I’m in my kitchen about to dig into this pizza.” He said._

_“What pizza?” I said looking around._

_“Wait…” Clint said grabbing something and making a throwing motion. “Oh… you’re not here and I’m not there. It’s the soulmate thing. We met so now when we talk we actually see each other.”_

_“Oh… I read about this but it doesn’t always happen.” I said._

_“Depends on everyone.” He said._

_“Guess I’m not walking around naked anymore.” I said. “You better not watch me when I’m in the bathroom.”_

_“I-It doesn’t work that way.” Clint said pinching his eyebrows together._

_“Rough day?” I asked._

_“Sort of.” He said._

_“I’m sorry about walking out… it’s just a lot.” I said._

_“It’s okay. You actually took it a lot better than I was expecting.” He said._

_“What did you think I was going to do? Scream and run?” I asked._

_“Pretty much.” Clint admitted._

_“Well even if I don’t take the job at least we still have our built in Skype.” I said._

_“I didn’t want this to happen.” He said thinking out loud._

_“That was pretty obvious when you fell through the ceiling.” I said before realizing how petty that sounded. “Sorry. I’m not mad I’m just… I don’t know what to do.”_

_“Because of me.” He said._

_“Because of everything.” I said. “Dick isn’t going to stop trying to strong arm me into making weapons at SI. It’s not looking like Tony’s coming back anytime soon if ever, and everything here is… not much better.”_

_“It’s not as bad as it sounds.” Clint said._

_“So I shouldn’t be worried about people coming after me and trying to kill me because I feel like grabbing a milkshake with you?” I asked._

_“I want you to stay safe and I don’t want to lie to you.” He said._

_“The truth fucking sucks but so does getting shot so I’m screwed either way.” I said tearing up. “I want you in my life Clint not just in my head but I don’t know if I can do this. I wasn’t trained for this like you or Natasha and Coulson were.”_

_“We can make it work.” Clint said. “We’re like everyone else who’s friends we’re just more careful.”_

_“You know this is way more complicated than that.” I said._

_“It doesn’t have to be.” He said. “You practically do rocket science in your sleep and that’s way harder.”_

_“I don’t know.” I said. “I’m tired and just want to go to sleep. Can we talk about this tomorrow?”_

_“Yeah.” Clint said. “We can. Lock your door before you go to sleep.”_

_“Already did.” I said rubbing my face with my hands._

When I opened my eyes again he was gone.

“Uh!” I groaned as I fell back down on the bed.

**The Following Morning…**

Apparently the full SHIELD Tour involved three days of not just touring the facilities but also getting to know the city as they tried to win me over.

I woke up as the sun poured in from the window making me start to hate the nice view.

I sat up and jumped in the shower. I didn’t know what I was going to do today so I took a page out of Pepper’s book. Always dress for everything. Wear clothes that work for work and out of work. Nice but not too nice. Basically dress like the paparazzi were going to follow you and you were going to end up in a magazine which for us was more often than not with Tony but do it without trying too hard.

Good thing Pepper and Tony normally bought my clothes for me. Pepper had gotten me a pretty forest green A-Line button dress with three quarter sleeves and a sash belt cinching in at the waist. I kept my hair down neatly curling it only pinning back my hair to keep it out of my face.

I hadn’t gotten any calls and no one had said anything about what I was supposed to be doing today and I was getting hungry so I decided to check out a nice little café I had passed by when I walked back last night.

I grabbed my purse and headed out for the day. If Coulson didn’t call I would probably head to the Smithsonian. I heard the Air and Space museum had a great exhibit on the space race.

I had just stepped out of the hotel lobby where right in front of the door was Natasha leaning against her corvette.

“Oh boy…” I whispered to myself.

“Morning.” Natasha said.

“Morning.” I said.

“That’s a cute dress.” She said.

“Thanks…” I said before pointing to the side. “Well I’m going to go get breakfast so… see ya…”

“I know a good spot.” She said walking up next to me and looping her arm around mine leading me down the street. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have told you like that…”

“Not sure there is a right way to drop that news.” I said.

“Clint explained….” She started.

“Yeah he did.” I said gently pulling my arm free. Natasha gave me a weird look but didn’t say anything before we walked into the café. We took a seat and ordered.

“Have you decided about the job? There’s a nice apartment that just cleared up down the street. Nice view of the river. We could check it out.” Natasha said.

“I don’t know if I’m taking the job.” I said.

“You seemed pretty sure yesterday.” She said.

“A lot of things happened yesterday.” I said.

“They did.” She said. “It’s a big change but it’s worth it. Clint’s a good guy.”

“I know.” I said feeling my head pounding from my inner turmoil focusing on slicing a piece of ham with a bit more force than was necessary.. It probably didn’t help that Natasha was staring at me probably trying to see if I’d cave and spill my guts. That was not going to happen. Unfortunately she is really good at reading people. Like scary good.

“What did the idiot do?” She said putting down her cutlery.

“What?” I said.

“Clint. What did he do?” She said glaring at me giving me the chills.

“He was honest.” I said. “Told me exactly what him being in my life means for me and how things wouldn’t be as simple as just being friends. People could come after me. I could get hurt or worse.”

“Fucking Barton.” Natasha cursed.

“He wasn’t lying though was he?” I asked.

“Our jobs are dangerous and work sometimes has a way of coming back with us.” She said.

“I get it which is why you should get why this isn’t easy for me. I’m not you. I can’t break someone with a look. If Clint hadn’t called Coulson when those guys broke into my apartment and he got there right on time I’d be dead or worse. And I thought it would be a one time thing but it’s not is it?” I said.

“Clint’s overprotective. He cares a lot especially about you, it’s why he was afraid of meeting you.” Natasha said. “And I can tell you care about him too.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I can’t do this Nat.” I said.

“But you want to?” She asked.

“You can’t always get what you want.” I answered.

“We’ll see about that.” She said throwing down her napkin and some cash for the bill. “Let’s go.”

“What? Where are we going?” I asked.

“Time for a Spy 101 crash course.” Natasha said rushing me out of the café through the back. “First lesson when you go out to eat sit in a spot where you can keep an eye on all the entrances and exits and never go out the same way you came in.”

“What if there’s only one entrance or the fire exit has an alarm?” I asked.

“Use the bathroom window.” She said as we rushed out.

Spy training was interesting, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I’m pretty sure going to the mall was not it.

“Security cameras, how many do you see?” She asked as she looked through a rack of dresses.

“Uh… the one at the entrance… the one behind the registers, the one in the corner…” I said.

“You missed one.” She said.

“The dressing room?” I asked.

“No, the one next to the elevator. It’s also right next to the emergency exit.” Natasha said.

“All exits are watched.” I said. “How do you get out?”

“You can show up on camera just don’t let your face show up.” She said. “Most places tend to put their cameras in the exact same spots never look directly at them and don’t make it obvious you’re not letting your face show up. Don’t use your hands to cover your face.”

“Should I start wearing hats?” I asked.

“That’s for amateurs and it’s the worst disguise ever.” Natasha said. “You’ll get better with practice. Keep your gaze low. If you have to look up tilt your head to the side and use your peripheral vision or use the reflection in the mirrors or glass around to get a better look at things.”

“Okay.” I said.

“Now for your clothes.” She said.

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” I said.

“Nothing but it might be a good idea for you to start keeping an extra set or two in your car in case you need to get away for a while.” She said.

“Why is it always a worst case scenario with you guys?” I asked.

“The worst case scenario is you getting killed. This is to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Natasha said. “Bright colors tend to get people’s attention. Neutral colors or muted colors are better they help you blend in.”

“So black, brown, beige, grey… no crazy prints…” I said.

“Yeah, also dressing in layers. It’s not just for fashion. Shedding a few layers when someone is following you though a crowd is a great way to lose someone.” Natasha said.

“Alright.” I said.

“I should probably get you a new phone while we’re here.” She said.

“I already have a phone.” I said.

“A burner phone, one that can’t be traced back to you.” Natasha said.

“I’m pretty sure my phone is fine.” I said.

“Once you start working at SHIELD and see what the guys at comms do you’re going to change your mind.” She said as we walked out of the store.

She got me two new phones. One to receive calls and one to make calls. Each good for one use only before I was to throw them out.

Then as if this day couldn’t get any weirder Natasha thought it was important I learn to use a gun.

“I thought you said I shouldn’t carry anything other than pepper spray because I’d probably never get the chance to use it or it’d be used against me?” I said.

“In case of emergencies, like you get kidnapped and think you can get away or someone breaks into your apartment again and they accidentally drop their gun.” Natasha said.

“Why would they…” I started.

“You’d be surprised.” She said. “Straighten up, relax your shoulders. Okay take off the safety like I showed you.”

I slowly did as I was asked my hand shaking as I did it.

“Alright.” Natasha said. “Deep breath in and gently squeeze the trigger as you exhale.”

I took a deep breath as I looked forward started to exhale and closed my eyes before squeezing the trigger. The kickback was a lot stronger than I was expecting.

I still had my eyes shut when Natasha gently took the gun out of my hands.

“That was good. Maybe don’t close your eyes next time.” Natasha suggested. “I’m getting hungry. Let’s go grab some lunch.”

“Sounds good.” I said taking off my safety glasses and ear plugs.

I hadn’t heard from Clint all day and it wasn’t entirely on him, I hadn’t reached out either. I didn’t want him to hear my inner pro and con list while his best friend taught me the basics of being a spy in an attempt to convince me to stay around.

“How do you do it?” I asked her as we ate lunch at a small bistro in Downtown DC.

“Do what?” She asked.

“This, everything you taught me. It’s only been a day and I’m already tired how do you do it all the time?” I said.

“I was raised to do this job. It’s practically a reflex at this point.” She said. “Don’t worry you’ll get better.”

_I thought I was doing a good job…_

_‘A good job on what?’ Clint asked suddenly appearing right next to me making me choke on my lemonade._

“You okay?” Natasha said giving me a weird look.

“Yeah…” I said with a cough looking to my left at Clint. “Breathed in some bread crumbs…”

Shit… This was going to take some getting used to.

_‘Uh… video game I’m playing. Got a low score.’ I said._

_‘Your hotel room came with a game system?’ He asked._

_‘Found an arcade.’ I said._

_‘What game?’ Clint asked._

_‘Pac Man.’ I said._

_‘Right…’ Clint said. ‘You probably made a wrong turn.’_

_‘Hit a dead end for that cherry.’ I said while I smiled and nodded along at a story Nat was telling me._

_‘I should probably pay attention.’ I said._

_‘Have you had lunch yet?’ He asked._

_‘In the middle of it.’ I said._

_‘Thought you were at the arcade?’ Clint asked._

_‘They have a snack bar.’ I said._

“Riley?” Natasha said before she tapped my foot with hers making me jump a bit.

“Sorry what?” I asked.

“You zoned out.” She said. “I was asking if you wanted to go see that place I was telling you about since it’s close by.”

“Uh… maybe not yet. I should probably see if I can afford it. Not sure what the job salary is yet or if I’m even taking it.” I said just as her phone started ringing.

“It’s Clint.” She said before sending it straight to voicemail.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I said.

“He’ll call back if it’s important.” Natasha said and sure enough he called back.

“Is that a spy thing?” I asked.

“It’s a friend thing.” She said picking up. “Romanoff. Have you finished your paperwork?”

I didn’t hear anything except a loud groan from the other end.

“You could have been here if you hadn’t ignored those emails. Should have listened.” She taunted. “She’s exactly the same as the last ten times you asked. Go finish your paperwork.”

With that she hung up on him.

“Paperwork again?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She asked. “So the apartment…”

“Nat…” I warned.

“It’s not going to hurt to look.” Natasha said.

“You know it’s starting to feel like you want me here more than he does.” I said.

“You think Clint doesn’t want you here?” Natasha said looking like she was forcing herself not to laugh.

“He’s made it pretty clear he thinks me taking the job and being here is the worst idea ever.” I said.

“Clint cares about you a lot. I keep him out of trouble but you’re who keeps him from going dark and getting lost in his head.” She said. “He’s not going to ask you to stay even if that’s what he wants because he wants you to choose and doesn’t want to put any pressure on you.”

“But you just told me which makes him not saying anything pointless.” I said.

“It does but you’re both idiots who can’t take a hint and are making this a lot harder than it really is.” Natasha said.

_‘Natasha just called me an idiot.’ I said before he popped up next to me again making me jump yet again._

_‘That just means she likes you.’ He said. ‘It’s a Russian thing… or a Nat thing. You get used to it.’_

“This is crazy.” I said to both of them.

“But you’re still going to do it.” She said.

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

“If you weren’t you wouldn’t be here right now. You would have run away the first chance you got.” She said putting down her napkin as we finished eating. “Come on, our appointment to see the apartment’s in fifteen minutes.”

“Appointment?” I said. “But you said…”

“It was a suggestion now I’m telling you.” She said ushering me out of the patio dining area. “And if you don’t like it I might just take it for me.”


	9. Chapter 9

Well I had to give it to Natasha… the apartment was perfect. It was a fifth floor loft apartment. It had lots of natural light coming into the living room/kitchen area. Hard wood floors.

The bedroom was above the kitchen and the room had high ceilings and lots of storage. A built in reading nook that also worked as additional storage.

The apartment had a great view and was in a good area. It was also surprisingly affordable.

“This place is perfect.” I said. “I really like the loft bedroom and it has a reading nook.”

“You two are made for each other.” Natasha said with a smirk.

“If you’d like to fill out an application this could be yours by the end of the week.” The realtor said.

“That fast?” I asked.

“The last occupants broke their lease two months in. The owner would like to have their spot filled as soon as possible.” They answered.

“What do you think?” I asked Natasha.

“The back window opens up to the fire escape. Good for a quick getaway.” She said. “Good area, all of your neighbors check out. Utilities are included and there’s parking.”

“You ran a background check on the neighbors?” I asked her.

“You really thought I’d bring you here without checking everyone out?” Natasha said.

“Fair point.” I said. “I’ll take that application.”

I quickly filled it all out and turned it in. Natasha was really sure I was going to get it. I had a feeling she was going to use her spy skills to do something about it.

As we walked out my phone started buzzing. I took one look at the caller ID and recognized the number as Dick’s office at Stark Industries.

“Not going to take it?” She asked.

“It’s not important, just a Dick who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.” I said as I got into her car. “You think I should have taken the job before I applied for the apartment?”

“The job’s not going anywhere. That apartment was too good to pass up.” Natasha said.

“Moving’s going to suck.” I said.

“SHIELD handles that.” Natasha said. “Want to call Coulson and tell him you’re taking the job or do you want to do that in person?”

“Hmm… guess I should do it now. Negotiating my contract’s going to take a while.” I said.

**Later that Day…**

Clint was in his cubicle… well the cubicle Coulson stationed him at so he could get his work done. That didn’t stop him from procrastinating though. After spinning around in his creaking desk chair until he got dizzy, pushing himself as far away and back in said chair he had settled into making his pencils as pointy as he could before throwing them up in the ceiling and catching them before throwing them up again.

He was almost done with his target when Natasha walked in.

“You’re supposed to be working.” Natasha said.

“I am.” He said throwing the pencil back up with a bit more force making it stick in dead center. “Done. What are you doing here? Is she…”

_“Downstairs negotiating in HR.” She signed noticing a couple of people watching them._

_“She’s saying yes.” Clint signed knowing that even if it didn’t seem like it someone was always listening to them._

_“She is.” Natasha said. “She’s smart. Has good instincts.”_

_“What did you two do all day?” Clint asked wondering why his best friend was saying that._

_“Oh nothing. Did some shopping, looked at an apartment. You should probably teach her how to shoot.” Natasha said. “Couldn’t get her to keep her eyes open.”_

_“You took her to a gun range?!” Clint said glaring at her. “She’s 16!”_

_“We were younger than her when we started training.” Natasha said._

_“You were supposed to show her around not train her to be… us” Clint said._

_“Riley’s taking the job. She’s going to be around and we might not always be here. She should at least know how to watch her own back.” Natasha said._

_“Taking her to a gun range isn’t watching her back.” He said._

_“And scaring her is?” Natasha said. “She wanted to do this but didn’t think that was a choice because she didn’t think she could do it. I showed her she could. Stop being an idiot and talk to her.”_

With that Natasha walked out.

_“Wow… these guys really don’t know how to take a joke.” Riley said as she appeared in the seat Natasha had got up from making Clint almost fall out of his._

_“Shit…” He said. “That’s going to take some getting used to. You’re stuck in HR?”_

_“Yeah…” Riley said. “Hashing out the details of the job. Mainly making sure they won’t have me building weapons of mass destruction… and maybe a pay bump.”_

_“Might want to get a good parking spot while you’re at it.” Clint suggested._

_“Oh yeah… Tony always said to ask for more than you really want so everyone walks away feeling like a winner.” She said._

_“Are you sure about this?” He asked._

_“Yeah… I keep going over it in my head and this is the right choice. Not like there’s anything left for me back in LA.” She said. “Change is good right?”_

_“Right.” He said giving her a smile._

_“Got to go, I think they’re starting to notice I zoned out.” Riley said._

Clint blinked and she was gone. He sighed before doing what he should have been doing all day, his work.

**Later that Day…**

It took hours to finally break them down and get everything I wanted into my contract. They tried to play hard ball, tried to get me to try modifying the missiles they already had instead of designing the new weapons but I was not backing down. Tony never managed to convince me so I seriously doubt they ever would. I did have to concede that if a weapon or something came in I would help out by taking it apart and figuring out how it worked.

Jokes on them, there’s nothing I enjoyed more than taking something apart to figure out how it works. I also managed to get a pay raise out of them. Overall it was a pretty successful negotiation.

Coulson had to drop me off at home because I had kept the head of HR until almost nine o’clock.

I did warn her I wasn’t going to back down. It wouldn’t have been so bad but most people don’t get my sarcastic jokes. Yet another reason I missed Tony. I could probably fill a book at this point.

“So here’s the key.” I said handing it over to Coulson who was going to be the one to handle all the details of the move and hire the moving company. “And the code for the security system. None of the furniture is mine Tony had Pepper furnish the place before I moved in.”

“Alright. We’ll cover your hotel stay until you get an apartment.” He said. “Like we agreed. If you need an advance for a security deposit or first month’s rent, let HR know and they’ll take care of everything.”

“Thanks, for everything.” I said.

“No problem.” He said.

“Good Night.” I said getting out.

“Good night.” Coulson said.

“Oh and by the way, I like the car.” I said admiring the red convertible.

“Her name’s Lola.” Coulson said proudly making me chuckle before I walked into the hotel.

When I got to my room I went straight for my phone and ordered a pizza. I was starving. When I hung up I fell back in bed feeling the exhaustion of the day finally start to hit me.

“Long day?” Clint asked.

“Wah!” I shrieked falling off the bed. “Shit…”

“Sorry.” He said.

“Uh I’m never going to get used to that.” I said standing up.

“We need to work on that.” Clint said. “So it’s official?”

“Yeah. Riley Sloane, Shield R&D at your service.” I said.

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you a lot then.” Clint said. “I’m down there all the time getting arrows, testing out new bows…”

“Bows and arrows?” I asked confused.

“That’s what I use.” He said.

“So you’re like Robin Hood? Bow and arrow. Feather in your cap and tights?” I said trying not to laugh as I imagined that.

“The bow and arrows yes. The hat and tights are a no, at least not anymore.” Clint admitted.

“Tights?” I said. “Circus?”

“Circus.” He confirmed.

“So, guess now’s a good a time as any to ask…. How’s this…” I said pointing back and forth between us. “Going to work. I mean I know we’re going to have to be careful but what exactly is that like?”

“Well… you’re probably going to need a few more lessons from Nat.” Clint said.

“She told you about that?” I asked.

“She said you did a good job.” He said. “We still have skype. At work we don’t talk unless its work related and outside of work we’re careful.”

“The back exits, separate cars, not letting a clear shot of my face show up on camara…” I said.

“To start.” He said. “or… we could just forget about everything and pretend this didn’t happen?”

“Are you backing out?” I asked him.

“No I’m giving you an out.” Clint said. “Not about the job. It’s the perfect job for you and I know how hard you’ve worked for this. I’m not what you expected…”

“You aren’t but at the same time you are.” I said. “Clint you’ve been looking out for me since the first time you accidentally said something to me. That hasn’t changed just because we met and you have a… really intense job… it just means that you look out for me in a different way. Besides I should be asking you if you’re sure about this. I mean now that I’m here, you’re really stuck with me.”

“Could be worse.” Clint said and I threw a pillow at him which didn’t hit him because he wasn’t there. He just laughed as there was a knock on my door.

“That’s probably my pizza.” I said.

“Pizza?” Clint said perking up. “Have enough for two?”

“Mhmmm I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if the bad guys find out we split a pizza?” I said sarcastically.

“That’s cold Riley.” Clint said joking around.

“That’s life.” I answered with a shrug as I grabbed a slice and took a bite. “Mhhmmm.”

“I still have pizza from last night. What movie are we watching?” Clint asked.

“I think back to the future is on.” I said. “but it’s the third one.”

“Uh…” Clint groaned in disgust. “Wait check channel 5, Ghostbusters is on.”

“Score.” I said flipping the channel and sitting back down on the bed with my back resting against the headboard.

**The Following Morning…**

I had waited until the last possible moment to do this. To make this call. I was three hours ahead so I said it was too late for me to be calling anyone the night before but now, it had to be done.

I picked up my phone and dialed Pepper.

“Beep. Beep. Bee…” The phone rang before she picked up. Why did she always have to pick up so soon.

“Hi sweetie.” Pepper said.

“Hey Pep.” I said.

“How’d DC? Ready to come home?” Pepper said. “What time is your flight coming in? I can pick you up and we could have dinner. I feel like I haven’t seen you in years.”

Man she was not going to make this easy.

“Uh well we’re going to have to put those plans off for a while.” I said. “I uh…. I took the job.”

Pepper was quiet.

“Y-you took the job?” She said. “Wow that… that was fast.”

“I know it was just too good to pass up.” I said.

“That’s so great sweetie. Are they letting you pick your own projects? Have you met your team yet?” Pepper asked.

“It’s R and D and I met a few people that work in my department. I spent most of yesterday in HR getting everything they promised and what I wanted in writing so they can’t go back just like you taught me.” I said.

“I am so so proud of you.” Pepper said and I instantly felt tears burn the back of my eyes as I tried to hold them back. “But I’m going to miss you so much.”

“I know.” I said. “I’m going to miss you too. Who’s going to nag me to tone down my sarcasm?”

“Like either of you ever listened to me.” She chuckled though I could tell she was crying a bit.

“We did when it mattered.” I reminded her. “He’d totally be freaking out right now. Looking up the crime rate, or buying me outrageous gifts to try and get me to stay.”

“He would have come around to it in the end.” Pepper said.

“I wouldn’t be here if he was still around.” I said. “I’d be helping him with whatever idea popped into his head at 3am.”

“I told you to turn off your phone before bed.” She said.

“You really think that would have stopped him?” I retorted.

“No but at least he would have brought you coffee and donuts and not the other way around.” Pepper said. “They uh…. The board think it’s best for the company moving forward if Tony were to be declared dead.”

“I’m guessing that was Dick’s idea?” I asked.

“Riley… Obadiah’s doing what he thinks is best for the future of the company.” She said.

“The future of the company went missing in a warzone. Declaring him dead means the search is called off and… we… they bury an empty coffin so the press has a photo for the front page.” I said.

“He loved Tony like a son.” Pepper said. “This isn’t easy for him either.”

“No he loved the money Tony made him.” I corrected.

“You’re not the only one that loved him Riley.” Pepper said and that shut me up.

“Sorry.” I said.

“It’s okay.” She said. “I used to think he’d give me a heart attack and kill me.”

“I always thought you were going to snap and strangle him.” I retorted.

“I considered it.” She said and we laughed.

“Haven’t we all.” I said.

“When’s the big move?” Pepper asked. “I know a good moving company…”

“That’s already been taken care of. I start next week.” I said.

“Already? What about…” She started.

“I’ve been looking at apartments. Put in an offer for a loft in a good area with a short commute to the office. They’re putting me up in a hotel until I find a place.” I said.

“You’re not coming back are you?” Pepper said.

“No.” I said. “Movers are taking care of everything but I do get a couple of weeks vacation every year. I can go visit.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do without you Riley. I have so much free time now.” Pepper said making me laugh.

“I’m sure you’ll find something at work. Or you could do something for you. Date. Yoga. Start a business and be the boss you were always meant to be?” I said.

“I’m sure I’ll find something.” Pepper said. “I have to go. Another PR meeting.”

“I’m not going to miss those. Talk to you later.” I said.

“I’m always one call away.” She said before she hung up.

That surprisingly went better than I was expecting. I actually thought she was going to try and talk me out of it. Then again there was nothing she could do about it.

I fell back in bed and debated if it was to early for a nap when I got a text message form an unknown number.

_Georgetown Waterfront Park, planters with the pink flowers in twenty minutes._

Unknown number. Oddly specific park that wasn’t too far from here.

This was probably Natasha. Clint probably would have just told me. Speaking of…

“Clint did Natasha send me a text to go meet her at a park in twenty minutes?” I asked.

“Shit.” Clint said as he appeared in front of me and he started coughing.

“Sorry.” I said.

“No I’m good.” He said in a hoarse voice.

“So Nat…” I said.

“You know it kind of pointless of her to text you from a burner if you’re just going to ask me if it was her.” Clint said.

“Oh I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t walking into an ambush or something.” I said getting up and putting my shoes on. “I’m grabbing a coffee on my way. What does Natasha like?”

“Riley…” Clint sighed. “It’s pretty obvious you’re meeting someone if you’re carrying two coffees.”

“Okay so no coffee.” I said slipping on my shoes. “Got it. Anything else?”

“Just be careful and give me a shout in case she over does it.” Clint said.

“When you say overdoes it…” I said not knowing what I was walking into.

“I got to go but you’re going to do great. I’ll check in on you later. Bye.” Clint said before disappearing.

“Bye.” I said talking to no one.

So I walked out of the hotel and made my way down the street. I had the GPS on so I knew where I was going but as I walked down the street I couldn’t help but feel as if I was being watched.

I decided to use some of my spy training and walked into a store and took the back exit doubling back before making my way to the park.

It was crowded but I guess that’s what Natasha was going for. Easier to blend in. Once I spotted the flowers I took a seat at a bench close by and took in the view.

“Hey.” Natasha said.

“Shit!” She said making me jump. “Where did you come from?”

“Always pay attention to our surroundings.” Natasha said. “Nice job doubling back earlier.”

“You were following me?” I said.

“Just checking to see if you were paying attention.” She said. “Look forward. Where are the security cameras?”

“Uh… the street lamps. Entrances to all the restaurants…” I said.

“Don’t forget the police car.” Natasha said. “Did you have lunch already?”

“No I was going to get coffee but I was told not to.” I said.

“Come on.” Natasha said. “Time for part two of training. Reading people.”

And by reading people Natasha meant people watching. We would watch people that passed by or in the restaurant and make assumptions about who they were and what they did.

It was insane how good she was. She could tell if a runner had a previous knee injury. If someone was with a spouse or having an affair. Small details everyone would overlook but told a story that could be used against them.

“What did you see about me when you first saw me?” I asked.

“Nothing as telling as a tan line on a ring finger.” Natasha said. “You pick at your nails when you’re bored or anxious, you also bite your lip when you’re deep in thought. You’re not comfortable in a suit or heels but tried really hard not to let it show. You’re comfortable in a lab, like a kid in Disneyland. And the most obvious thing is how much Clint means to you.”

“I have known him in a way my entire life.” I said. “And he talks about you a lot…. So you must know him better than anyone.”

“I do?” Natasha said.

“He mentioned something about purple tights and maybe a robin hood outfit from his circus days?” I said.

“There was body glitter too.” Natasha said.

“No….” I said.

“Yeah.” She said.

“Please tell me there are photos.” I said.

“I keep them for blackmail.” Natasha said.

“Those I have to see.” I said.

“We’re going to get along really well.” Natasha said with a smirk.

**One Week Later…**

Due to one reason or another I was given a few extra days to get settled in DC which was great considering I had gotten the loft and my stuff from LA had just gotten delivered. The one down side was that I didn’t actually have any furniture so I had to not only buy new furniture. I also had to put it together.

“Put the left E leg into the right corner of the E piece?” I said as I read the instructions. “What does that even mean?”

“Hey.” Clint said appearing. “How the move in going?”

“Bad. I don’t think these instructions are even in English.” I said looking at the instructions.

“Instructions?” Clint said. “Aren’t you an engineer?”

“I am. Computers and missiles I pull apart and put back together blindfolded. This Swedish trainwreck… I’m not even sure if it’s the bookshelf or the coffee table.” I said. “Uh…”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He said and I just gave him a look.

“What the hell’s a _scaft_?” I asked.

“Okay I’m on my way.” Clint said.

“I thought you said we couldn’t just… do that?” I asked.

“I said we’d have to be careful. Besides I have some things for you.” He said. “Be there in ten minutes.”

With that he disappeared.

‘I really hope it’s not a gun.’ I thought.

‘It’s not a gun.’ Clint said appearing before disappearing again.

“I’m never going to get used to that.” I said to myself.

I got back to work pulling apart the parts of the table I had put together and tried putting it back together correctly but I think I missed a screw or two. On the plus side it was standing.

It was almost half an hour later and Clint still hadn’t shown up. Maybe he got called out on a mission or something. I went to grab my phone to order some Chinese when I started hearing this tapping sound.

I looked through the peephole at the door but there was no one there.

“Hey can you let me in?” Clint said appearing out of nowhere.

“Where are you?” I asked.

“On your right.” He said. I turned and there on my fire escape was Clint. I ran over and opened the window.

“You climbed up the fire escape?” I said moving aside so he could jump in. “Are you crazy. That’s five floors.”

“I’ve climbed higher.” Clint said with a smirk. “And I picked up some Chinese since I know you haven’t had lunch yet.”

“I was just about to order that.” I said.

“This is a nice place.” Clint said pulling in a black duffle bag from the fire escape and bringing it to the living room.. “I like the view.”

“I know, you should see it at night.” I said.

“Finally figured out the coffee table?” Clint said setting down the duffle bag on it only for the table to collapse.

“I think I missed a few screws.” I admitted.

“Looks that way.” Clint said chuckling while I brought out the plates and forks.

“Can I get you anything to drink. I’ve got water, milk, and coffee?” I said.

“Waters good for right now.” He said opening up the bag.

“Are those cream cheese rangoons?” I asked seeing a separate baggie.

“Yup.” Clint said passing them to me.

“Score.” I said taking one. “So are you still in trouble? Thought you’d be away with Nat or Coulson?”

“They didn’t need me.” Clint said. “Not my type of mission.”

“Mh.” I said nodding.

“That’s all your stuff from LA?” Clint asked looking at a few boxes I had laying around.

“Yeah. All four boxes.” I said. “Not including my clothes, those I already unpacked.”

“Four whole boxes.” Clint said. “that’s…”

“Light?” I finished for him. “I got used to having to pick up and move from one day to the next then when I got emancipated I didn’t have a lot of room. It became a habit.” 

“There are worst habits to have and that might come in handy in case of emergency.” Clint said.

“Is that why you brought the duffle bag?” I asked.

“Yeah. Eat first though.” Clint said. “Don’t want you getting hangry.”

“I don’t get hangry.” I said.

“Sure you don’t.” Clint said.

Once we were done eating and I cleaned up while Clint put together the coffee table. He made it look so easy.

“Alright, let’s see if I did it right.” Clint said picking up the duffle bag and slowly putting it on the table. It held up fine. didn’t even wobble.

“Did you super glue it?” I asked him.

“No, I’m just handy.” Clint said. “Now time for business.”

He opened up the duffle bag revealing a lot of money in neatly stacked bills, in different currencies from dollars, pesos, euros, and some I didn’t even recognize.

“Okay so all of this is in case of an emergency.” He said.

“Why is there so much money in there?” I said.

“That’s to keep hold you over if you need to go into hiding. You can only use cash, ditch your credit cards and bank card also your phone.” Clint said.

“Where did you get all of this? I mean this is a lot of money.” I said.

“Riley it’s better if you don’t know.” Clint said awkwardly. I stared at him confused before it hit me.

“Oh. Right.” I said.

“Anyway, you’ve got enough cash to get you as far away as you need to go and start over if it comes to that. This is a new identity. You should look it over and memorize it.” Clint said handing it to me.

“June Monroe.” I said reading the name on the license. “How’d you get a photo of me?”

“Nat took one when you weren’t looking.” Clint said taking out three burner phones but one had a black tape on the back. “You need to keep this charged and on at all times. You don’t have to keep it on you, just keep it on hand. Only two people besides me have this number. If it rings it means something’s happened. When you answer they’re going to give you a code word.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier if you just ‘Skyped me’?” I asked.

“I might not be able to.” Clint said.

I felt my stomach churn at the thought. The only situation in which he wouldn’t be able to skype would be if he was dead. Shit. Clint and Natasha were taking all of these precautions but it didn’t really hit me until now how real this all was.

This was life or death. There was a very real possibility I’d have to disappear because someone could come after me. This was my life now.

“Riley.” Clint said looking at me concerned gently putting a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah sorry, you were saying the code word?” I asked.

“Need a minute?” he asked.

“No. We should go over all of this now before we get busy.” I said.

“These two are for emergencies. They have Coulson’s, Nat’s and my number already programed into it. You can either answer or make one call, then you get rid of it. Throw it out. Dump it in a river, doesn’t matter just don’t keep it on you.” Clint said.

“If that happens. If I have to drop everything and go, where do I go?” I asked.

“You hide. Motels. Only pay cash. I have a safe house I’m in the middle of setting up. Once that’s done. I’ll show you how to get there but if anything happens before that Natasha will get you somewhere safe.” He said. “And once that happens you start over and you never talk to anyone you know again.”

“Not that there’s really anyone who would notice.” I said looking through June Monroe’s ID and passport.

“You’d be surprised but they wouldn’t find you. Not if we did our job right.” Clint said. “Nat Told you about keeping a change of clothes in your car right?”

“Yeah?” I said.

“That’s in case you can’t get back here.” Clint said handing me another envelope with another identity and a bit of cash. “Keep that in the trunk of your car. That should get you to wherever we end up telling you to meet up with us. Take your car far enough until you lose your tail and ditch it. Grab this and get there another way.”

“Should I put some extra clothes in this pack?” I asked.

“A few sets. Something to blend in comfortable shoes to run in if it comes to that.” He said.

“Okay.” I said and Clint just stared at me. “You want me to do it now?”

“Might be a good idea.” He said as I got up and headed upstairs to grab some clothes. “I need to hide this somewhere no one will find but that you can get to it easily.”

“Uh… my closet?” I called out.

“Too obvious.” Clint said as he looked around. “Vent’s too small.”

“Ceiling?” I suggested.

“Can you even reach it?” He said. “If you’re in a rush you’re not going to have time to get a ladder. Is that a coat closet?”

“Yeah.” I said.

I heard Clint rummaging around and knocking on something.

“This might work.” Clint said as I started come downstairs

“One short sleeve and long sleeve depending on what the weather’s like.” I said.

“Grab a hoodie.” He suggested.

“Layers.” I said understanding and quickly running up to get one.

“Bingo” Clint said as he found a loose floorboard. He loosened a few more until there was enough room for the duffle bag. “Don’t worry I’m going to put everything back.”

Clint slipped the bag in and put the floor boards back just the way they were.

“This is the one you take out first. The rest come out easy after.” He said before moving a few boxes so they were over the loose floorboards.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“Almost.” Clint said. “Nat suggested I should teach you to shoot a gun…”

“I don’t really want to…” I said.

“I’m not going to get you a gun but you should at least know how to use one. Just in case.” Clint said. “Or at least get you to the point where you don’t close your eyes when you shoot.”

“I shouldn’t be shooting anyone.” I said.

“The guys that come after you won’t think that.” Clint said.

I sighed knowing I wasn’t going to win this one.

“I know how to build a gun, guess it’s time I learn to use one.” I said.

“I’ll set something up. But for right now what else do you need to put together?” Clint asked.

“My bed?” I suggested looking at the box by the stairs.

“Let’s start with that.” Clint said.

Clint was not kidding when he said he was handy. He installed my showerhead and adjusted the water pressure for me. Installed another deadbolt on the front door. Fixed a few of the kitchen cabinets so they actually closed all the way, mounted my TV on the wall and fixed the latch on my window.

“That’s everything.” I said.

“Almost.” Clint said bringing out something and hiding it behind his back. “I got you a house warming present.”

He took it out and handed it to me. It was a set of darts and a target board.

“Awe.” I said. “This is great. I can pin photos of people I hate and shoot darts at it.”

“That’s what I do with mine.” Clint said with a smirk. “Where do you want it?”

“Uh… That wall so I can shoot from the kitchen?” I suggested.

“That’s a good spot.” Clint said quickly putting it up. “You up for a game?”

“Sure.” I said. “I call red.”

Clint handed me the three red darts while he went to go stand in his spot. In less than the blink of an eye he had shot all three of his darts and hit the target dead center.

“Wow.” I said.

“I play at home a lot.” Clint said.

“If you say so.” I said going to take my turn. Not one of my darts hits the target. “I’m not really good at shooting games.”

“I didn’t notice.” Clint said grabbing the darts. “Come on. I’ll give you a few pointers.”

He walked over and handed me the darts.

“Stand up straight. Slightly to the side. Relax your shoulders and try again.” He said.

I did and it didn’t hit the wall but it got closer.

“That’s slightly better.” I said.

“You’re not giving the dart enough force to stay to the board.” Clint said. “Put your two fingers together on top and your thumb under. When you throw don’t pull your hand down. Flick your finger and do it fast.”

“So like this?” I said showing him the motion.

“A bit more like that…” he said fixing my grip. “Try it.”

“Okay.” I said watching the target and giving It another go. It was at the edge and barely on the board.

“We’re getting there.” Clint said. “okay now try it again but this time don’t hold your breath.”

“I wasn’t.” I said.

“You were. Most people do when they shoot. It makes your muscles tense. Try exhaling as you shoot. Deep breath in and it go out.” Clint said just watching me.

“What do I get if I hit the center?” I asked.

“How about you hit the target first, then we’ll talk about rewards?” Clint suggested.

“Mhmm.” I hummed taking a breath and slowly exhaled as I threw the dart. It wasn’t dead center but it was a lot closer. “Wow.”

“That’s better. Now I have some real competition.” Clint said.

“Oh that’s how we’re playing?” I asked.

“Maybe.” He said.

“Well Darts might not be my game but Halo is.” I said.

“You have halo?” Clint said before turning to my TV and back to me.

“You want to…” I asked.

“Do you have an extra remote?” He asked.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“I call player one.” Clint said running to the couch.


	10. Chapter 10

It was finally my first day on the job. I didn’t sleep the entire night before. I gave up on getting any sleep and opted to go through my usual morning routine. A nice early run, shower and breakfast before pulling out every single outfit in my closet and trying it on.

I was told there wasn’t any specific dress code unless I was called into a meeting with the guys on the top floor which was not likely but it was still my first day and I wanted to make a good first impression.

I was definitely not wearing a dress. If I could talk to Pepper she’d probably give me at least five suggestions. Picking my outfits was one of her favorite past times.

What was the weather going to be like today?

Did it really matter I was going to be in the lab all day anyway?

_‘It’s way too early for you to be up.’ Clint said appearing behind me making me jump a bit. I turned and saw him sitting on the edge of my bed. He had a serious bed head and looked half asleep._

“Sorry. couldn’t sleep so I decided to start the day early.” I said. “Since you’re here what do you think I should wear?”

_“Pants and a shirt.” Clint said._

“You are such a guy.” I said.

_“I am a guy.” Clint said._

“Clint.” I whined.

_He sighed. “You look good in blue… or dark colors. They make your eyes stand out.”_

“Blue… blue… Ah! Blue button up. And my black skinny jeans with flats. I hate wearing heels.” I said. “Thank you.”

_“Can I go back to sleep now?” He asked._

“Don’t you have work?” I asked.

_“Field agents don’t really have set work hours. Normally we just stop by work out… do whatever paperwork or training HR nags you to do sometimes…” He said._

“Sounds nice.” I said.

_“It is until they call you in at 3am for a mission.” Clint said._

“Well I’ll let you get back to sleep.” I said.

_“Let me know if anyone gives you any trouble.” He said._

“It’s work not high school.” I said.

_“You know I’m not the only assassin that works at SHIELD?” Clint reminded me._

“Fair point.” I said. “But we’re not supposed to know each other at work remember?”

_“Oh don’t worry. They’d never see me coming.” Clint said._

“Just don’t crash through the ceiling again.” I said. “Don’t think Coulson’s going to let you off the hook a second time.”

_“I know.” Clint said before falling back and disappearing._

I picked out the light blue button up blouse and my favorite black skinny jeans opting to leave my hair down. I was going to wear flats but since it was my first day and I might end up in HR again I chose to wear my black suede pointed toe heels and to take a pair of flats as backups.

I looked pretty good. I headed downstairs and made a quick breakfast before filling up my thermos and heading out. The drive to work was pretty uneventful, there wasn’t even any traffic. I flashed my security badge at the entrance and they let me right into the underground garage. Once I got into the elevator along with a group of other employees it went up to the main lobby.

It was still early in the day but Shield was busy. Agents were walking around. Office workers coming and going. I headed to the west tower where R and D was located.

“Oh Riley!” Gemma said greeting me as I walked in.

“Hi Gemma.” I said smiling politely as she juggled two cups of coffee and multiple snacks that I guessed she had gotten from a vending machine. “Need a hand?” I offered.

“Yes please.” She said and I quickly grabbed a few of the things that were slipping from her grasp. “Are you just getting in?”

“It’s my first day.” I said.

“Oh that explains all the equipment they were moving into the new lab.” Gemma said.

“Yeah, I jokingly asked for a soundproof lab but apparently it wasn’t that big of an ask.” I said.

“All the labs have sound dampening equipment.” She said as we arrived on our floor. “Believe me with all the unintentional explosions and alarms we set off we wouldn’t stop getting noise complaints.”

“I asked more out of consideration. I like my music loud.” I said as we walked into the lab.

“I have breakfast and look who I ran into?” Gemma said.

“Riley! You took the job?” He asked.

“Took the job.” I confirmed. “I’m your new lab neighbor.”

“That’s great! Have you gotten assigned to a project yet or are you pitching something?” Fitz asked.

“I have a few ideas I think I’m going to pitch but I just want to get used to how things work around here first.” I said.

“That’s probably a good idea.” Gemma said.

“I’ll leave you guys to it.” I said.

“See you at lunch.” Fitz said. “It’s chicken wing day.”

“You don’t want to miss it.” Gemma said.

“See you then.” I said before walking down the hall until I got to the glass door with my name on it. I walked in and saw my fully set up lab ready to use. I went to the desk and put my things away. I walked over to the computer and signed in ready to get to work. Unfortunately it was not that simple.

Tony liked to hit the ground running, Shield really liked their paperwork. I had five emails for online learning modules I had to complete ASAP, an assessment I had to schedule a time for and for some reason I was expected to come down to medical at some point during the day for a physical.

I looked through everything and sighed. This was going to take me all morning or… I could hack into Shield’s systems and mark everything as completed so I could get to the fun part of the job.

_“That’s cheating.” Clint said suddenly appearing._

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I said.

_“Sure you don’t.” Clint said not buying it. “It’s your first day and you’re already hacking?”_

“I have done no such thing.” I said. “I just think that all the time I was going to spend going over stuff I know and have done a thousand times before could be better spent doing something else. Also I apparently have to go in for a check up? What’s up with that?”

_“Oh yeah. It’s protocol. Shield takes care of it’s people. Protecting an investment. They’re also going to give you a drug test.” He said._

“The only test I can’t pass.” I said.

_“What?” Clint said looking a bit more awake._

“Kidding.” I said.

_“Do you really want to get in trouble on your first day?” He asked._

“Getting in trouble implies I’m going to get caught and I’m not.” I said.

_“Shield has the best security system.” Clint said. “Do you really think you can get in?”_

“Want to bet?” I said smirking before I started getting into the system.

_“Riley…” Clint said in warning._

“Relax, I used to do this with Tony all the time when we got bored.” I said typing away on my computer. “And got it.”

_“Already?” He asked._

“Yeah… now HR…. completed everything.” I said.

_“Think you can clear up a few things for me while you’re there?” Clint asked._

“Uh I don’t know. It’s my first day and I don’t want to get in trouble.” I said before clearing up all the unnecessary trainings Clint and Natasha were assigned. “All set. Guess I better go to medical. Hope it’s not packed.”

_“Have fun.” He said. “And you should get to the cafeteria early for lunch. It’s Chicken Wing day.”_

“You’re not the first person to tell me that.” I said. “Are they really that good?”

_“You’ll see.” Clint said before disappearing._

Okay… Guess I’ll go kill time in medical.

**Hours Later…**

Man the medical staff here was thorough. I mean They ran every possible test they could short of putting me through an MRI. They took blood samples, urine samples. Gave me an EKG. Offered to put me on birth control if I wanted it. Apparently being an employee also meant I had access to the onsite gym and they even offered group work out sessions every morning for non field agents.

Not only that they made me fill out a medical directive in the event I was incapacitated and I couldn’t make decisions regarding my health.

Who would I trust to pull the plug on me in case I was done for…

“Hey Clint who’s pulling the plug for you?” I asked.

_“What?!” He said spilling his coffee. “Ow shit…”_

“Sorry. Apparently I have to fill in a medical directive, you know in case I end up in a coma and someone has to pull the plug on me.” I said.

_“Man they really cover everything…” Clint said._

“Tell me about it. They’re also keeping my DNA on record in case they need to identify remains. They even gave me a flu shot.” I said.

_“Ouch. Uh…. I think I put Coulson down for mine. He was the only person I knew when I joined. I might need to update some of that stuff.” He said. “Nat put me… Who’re you putting?”_

“If we’re keeping things off the record I can’t put you. Probably not Nat either… I’d put Tony but he’s not around. Pepper’s across the country… Guess I’ll leave it blank. If I end up brain dead and no one’s pulled the plug after two weeks just do it yourself Kay?” I said. “Oh but donate my organs first.”

_“I met you a week ago and we’re already talking about pulling the plug on each other.” Clint said._

“Would you rather someone just call you randomly one day when you least expect it?” I said.

_“No but I don’t want to pull a Clint Eastwood on you either. If we’re being honest I’m more likely to end up having to get the plug pulled than you.” Clint said._

“Anything you want me to do?” I asked.

_“Make sure there’s nothing and I mean nothing left they can do for me. And you know try skyping just in case I’m still conscious before that.” He said._

“No Diaper and one last skype.” I said. “Got it.”

I headed back to my lab and went through my email again. Still no training. I had a staff meeting on Wednesday but other than that I had nothing to do.

Uh… I groaned.

“How’s the first day going?” Natasha said with a smirk as she popped up behind me.

“Ah!” I screamed falling out of my seat. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Two minutes. You need to be more aware of your surroundings.” Natasha said. “Keep your guard up.”

“I’m at work.” I said.

“Especially at work.” She said. “You busy?”

“No I’m free. Too free actually. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.” I said.

“Probably those trainings you hacked your way out of.” Natasha said. ”Thanks for that by the way.”

“No problem.” I said.

“Think you can help me with something?” She asked.

“Sure.” I said and she offered me a strange cuff gauntlet thing. I carefully took it and was surprised at how much it weighed. It was so heavy. “What is it?”

“It’s my gauntlet” She said as I placed them on the hollo table and immediately the schematics came up. “They’re my weapons. They got a bit banged up on my last mission. They were fixed but they still feel off.”

“You wear these? Don’t you get tired of carrying them? They’re heavy.” I said.

“I’m used to it.” She said standing across the table from me as I looked things over.

“They work like tasers but also carry long range electro static disks. What’s the range on them?” I asked.

“I throw them.” Natasha said.

“They’re a bit bulky.” I said grabbing my tools and carefully opening them up to get an inside look.

“They get the job done.” She said.

“There’s always room for improvement.” I said finding the wire that was causing a short and probably the reason it wasn’t working right. I ran the diagnostic and it cleared.

“You have ideas?” She asked.

“A few. Starting with making it a bit lighter. Maybe a something to launch the electrostatic disks farther. Some trip wire that could double as a grappling hook so you could propel yourself safely down in case you need to jump out a window. Smoke bombs… ” I said closing it up and looking up at Natasha who just gave me a look with an arched eyebrow. “Like I said. A few ideas.”

“Could you do that?” She asked.

“Probably.” I said going to the table and bringing up a 3D model of the gauntlets and scrapping all the add ons to get to the basic model. “The first thing I’d do is change the casing to something lighter. Maybe a titanium alloy. Are you left or right handed?”

“Right handed but I can do both.” She said.

“So both hands would have tasers but the left would be more storage for things you need to store. Say a the smoke bombs, mini explosives. Maybe a storage in case you need to store something small like a USB or a key. The other one would be the disk shooter and the trip wire… grappling hook.” I said making notes on the side.

“It sounds good. It would keep the weight even.” Natasha said.

“Now I just have to figure out the launch mechanism. Give it a good range without making it bulky.” I said. “Maybe use the trip wire for the grappling hook to just have to find a material that’s compact and stress resistant.”

“I think that’ll keep you busy or a while.” She said.

“Probably.” I said. “I’ll let you know when I have something for you to try out.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Natasha said before wandering off.

“Was that…” Fitz asked.

“I think it was.” Gemma said.

“Hey guys.” I said.

“Was that Agent Romanoff?” Fitz asked.

“Uh yeah.” I said flipping the 3D model of the gauntlet.

“Are those… She let you touch her gauntlets?” Fitz said having a major fanboy moment.

“Yeah they were short circuiting so I fixed it and had a few ideas for an upgrade.” I said.

“Agent Romanoff let you touch her gauntlets?” Gemma said.

“I needed to touch them to fix them.” I said. They both just stared at me. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Agent Romanoff is a legend. Former Russian spy that defected. She goes on the most top secret dangerous…. She’s the best of the best. Her and Agent Barton are they’re amazing.” Fitz said.

“Okay?” I said. “I take it they don’t stop by here often?”

“Never.” Gemma said.

“Oh.” I said.

“And she just came here?” Fitz said.

“Coulson kind of recruited me and I think they work closely. He might have told her.” I said shrugging it off.

“We were just about to head down to lunch.” Gemma said.

“Already?” I asked.

“We want a good seat.” Fitz said.

“To eat chicken wings?” I asked.

“No. You should never eat those.” Gemma said.

“They’ll burn a hole in your stomach.” Fitz said.

“Then why…” I asked.

“You’ll see.” They said leading me out.

Turns out chicken wing day was the day the SHIELD cafeteria made the spiciest most inedible wings known to man and all the FIELD Agents and Strike team members (AKA the jocks) tried to out do one another by eating as many as they could. Basically a lot of grown men ended up crying by the end of it and someone always, always ended up touching their eyes with hot sauce covered fingers which led to even more hysterics.

“Are they really that bad?” I asked.

“I tried it once. I ended up in the hospital.” Fitz said.

“I’ll stick with the salad then.” I confirmed as I took a look around the cafeteria.

SHIELD was actually a lot like high school. In the sense that it was exactly like high school. If security clearance levels were grade levels. The strike teams were the jocks. The field agents were the JV teams. The comms guys were the gossip mongers slash floaters. Everyone in RD and medical were the nerds and then you had the loaners that ate at their desks.

“I think I ended up back in high school.” I said.

“Well in a way every job is sort of like high school.” Gemma said.

“And we are in a cafeteria.” Fitz seconded.

“True.” I said.

“Miss Sloane.” Agent Coulson said coming over to us.

“Agent Coulson.” I said.

“Sir.” Gemma and Fitz said at the same time.

“I take it your first day is going well?” he asked.

“Its been busy.” I said.

“Can you stop by my office after lunch? There’s a few things I’d like to go over with you.” He said.

“Of course.” I said.

“And stay away from the chicken wings.” He said.

“I’ve been warned.” I said before he walked away.

“Man you sure are popular today?” Fitz said.

“It’s probably more paperwork.” I said.

_“Uh fuck fuck fuck I shouldn’t have had that last one.” Clint said appearing across from me._

“You shouldn’t have had any.” I said.

_“Had to keep my record.” He said sweating. “What did Coulson want?”_

“Wants to talk in his office after lunch.” I said. “Probably to give me more homework.”

_“Maybe.” He said breathing heavily._

“Bite a lemon. It’ll help.” I said.

_“It’ll pass.” He said before disappearing._

“I think I found the glitch in Sleepy’s programming but I could use a second set of eyes, if you’re not too busy?” Fitz asked.

“Sure. I’ll stop by your lab after Coulson’s.” I said before I finished eating.

Once we were all done I headed to the East tower elevator. The east tower was the highest tower of the triskelion and was where all the higher ups had their offices. It was also the base of operations for all the Strike teams.

Suffice to say the elevator was crowded with agents. I think it was a requirement for them to be really buff. I also felt really out of place in jeans and heels while everyone else was armed and in tactical gear.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.” Once of them said looking me up and down.

Why did guys always think it was okay to look at girls like they were pieces of meat?

“First day.” I said tapping the screen for the floor Coulson’s office was on.

“Oh… that explains it.” Another said with a grin exchanging looks with his friend.

“I’m Brock Rumlow, head of Strike team Alpha.” Brock said.

“Jack Rollins. Also Alpha. Second in command.” He said staring at my boobs.

‘Uh what a creep.’ I thought.

_‘Who? Where?’ Clint asked._

‘Elevator.’ I said. ‘On my way to Coulson’s office.’

“Do you have a name?” Jack asked.

“Riley.” I said taking my phone since I felt it vibrate at the same time the elevator stopped and Clint and Natasha walked in.

“Rumlow.” Natasha said.

“Rollins.” Clint said as they each stood on either side of me blocking Rumlow and Rollins from looking at me. “Managed to keep the wings down this time?”

“Not all of us have iron stomachs Barton.” Rollins said. “I do know a good bar with wings that won’t land you in the hospital. If you’re interested Riley.”

Clint and Natasha snorted at that.

“And since you’re new we could show you around. Show you all the best spots around town.” Brock said.

“Hard Pass.” I said as the elevator doors opened and I walked out with Clint getting off with me just giving Nat a quick look as we got out.

**Third Person’s POV-**

“She’s smoking.” Rollins said.

“I’d love to show her around and take her for a ride.” Rumlow said before the doors opened.

“She’s sixteen.” Natasha deadpanned before getting out.

Rollins and Rumlow froze as the doors closed behind her.

“Sixteen year old’s didn’t look like that when I was in high school.” Rumlow said.

“She doesn’t look 16.” Rollins said.

**Riley’s POV-**

_‘You okay?’ Clint asked_ as we walked along side each other keeping enough space between us and not looking at each other

‘I’m fine. Guys can be idiots. Not the first time it happens won’t be the last.’ I said.

‘ _Did they do anything?’_ he said looking me up and down discreetly

‘Nothing but check me out and try to start a conversation with my boobs.’ I said.

_‘No one else has bothered you right?’ Clint said._

‘Clint.’ I said stopping in front of Coulson’s office. ‘Nothing happened. I’m fine. Promise.’

_‘Are you sure?’ He asked._

‘I’m pretty sure you’d know if something happened.’ I said as Coulson walked down the hall towards us.

‘I’ll be around.’ Clint said as he walked towards Coulson signing something to him. Coulson just nodded and kept walking toward me.

“Thanks for stopping by.” He said.

“No problem.” I said as we walked into his office. I could feel there was a theme going on. There was a lot of World War 2 memorabilia. Mostly Captain America comics or posters.

“Natasha stopped by?” He asked.

“She did. Fixed her gauntlets. Had a few ideas for some upgrades. I started working on a few plans but wasn’t sure if there was someone specifically in charge of that or if I even had the clearance?” I asked.

“You have free range to work on whatever you want. You just have to submit paperwork to get whatever supplies you need or if you need specific equipment to get that. Also you’re scheduled for 8 to 5 but you don’t have to be here unless you have a meeting, a training or you’re called into consult. You’re free to work from home, your tablet should’ve been left in you’re called into consult. Though if you are going to assemble something you are strongly recommended to do that on the premises.” Coulson explained.

“That won’t be a problem. I don’t want to lose my security deposit by starting a fire.” I said. “But I’m pretty sure you didn’t call me up to talk about paperwork.”

“I didn’t. Actually I’m not the one that wanted to talk.” Coulson said as someone walked in. “Right on time.”

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” Someone said. I turned and saw a tall bald man wearing all black clothes and a black trench coat with an eyepatch over one of his eyes. He sort of looked like a pirate.

“You must be Riley Sloane.” He said. “I’ve had my eye on you for a while now.”

It took all I had not to snort at the irony of that statement.

“Nick Fury. Director of Shield.” He said offering his hand.

“Nice to meet you.” I said shaking his hand.

“We have a lot to discuss Miss Sloane.” Fury said.

“We do?” I asked.

“You are aware that Agent Barton is one of our top Agents?” He said.

“I’m aware and I know how this is going to work. Mostly that no one besides those who already know find out about it.” I said.

“You know the risks.” Fury said.

“I keep getting reminders.” I said. “And the shovel talks really help nail it in.”

“As long as we’re all in the same page.” He said. “There’s another matter we need to discuss. It’s about your former boss.”

“Tony? Please don’t tell me he’s been working with you guys and you pointed him towards me.” I said.

“No, He’s in the public eye too much and as you can tell we like to keep our work quiet.” Coulson said.

“You worked very closely with him. Probably knew him better than anyone else.” Fury said. “Can he be trusted?”

“I’ve actually gone over this already with Agent Coulson.” I said.

“We need to be sure. Your boss designed most of this country’s missile defense systems.” Fury said. “I don’t think I need to tell you how bad that information would be in the wrong hands.”

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Tony Stark is a lot of things but he’s not a traitor. The guy has his faults but he wouldn’t betray his country.” I said.

“People can be very persuasive.” He said.

“Then he’d probably give them a very sarcastic and snarky answer that would annoy the crap out of them.” I said. “Tony’s loyal. I’d be more worried about his business partner. That guy would sell his own grandmother if it meant another weapons contract.”

“You have your own personal experiences with the man that might affect your judgement.” Fury said.

“He’s a Dick. That’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.” I said. “Is that all?”

“For now.” Fury said.

“Great.” I said walking out.

The rest of the day was smooth sailing. I looked through Fitz code and pointed out a few small things as well as a couple of suggestions to improve a few things before I went back to my lab and started working on the shooting mechanism for Natasha’s gauntlets. Before I knew it, it was time to call it a day.

I did run into a bit of traffic on the way back to the loft but not as bad as when I had to go with Tony to the office.

As soon as I walked into my loft…

_“Hey.” Clint said making me jump._

“Ah! We’ve really got to work on that.” I said looking at him. “Are you really here or are we skyping?”

_“Skyping.” Clint said. “Thought you might want some alone time after work.”_

“What I need is…” I said kicking off my heels. “Ah… so much better. Shoot anyone today?”

_“I considered it but I think Nat’s warning scared them off.” Clint said._

“Did she threaten anyone?” I asked.

_“She doesn’t have to. One look is enough.” Clint said._

“You know it’s going to be kind of hard to keep whatever this is under wraps if you two keep going around and threatening anyone who looks at me.” I said.

_“They were doing a lot more than looking.” Clint said._

“Guys have a tendency to do that Clint. Not the first time someone’s checked me out. I mean you remember the first time I met Tony.” I said.

_“I remember wanting to shoot him.” Clint said._

“And I handled it.” I said.

_“So you’re telling me to back off?” Clint said._

“I’m telling you to trust me to handle myself and know that if there’s ever a time I can’t I’ll ask you for help.” I said.

_“You know I trust you.” He said. “Strike guys tend to come on strong sometimes.”_

“I’m not really interested in dating right now.” I said.

_“Really?” He asked._

“Yeah. My dating pool is non existent. You know because I’m sixteen and everyone I work with is way older than me… and people my age are in different points in their lives.” I said.

_“Don’t let Nat hear that. She’ll make it her life’s mission to find you a date.” Clint said._

“Speaking from experience?” I asked.

_“I don’t really get a lot of time to date.” He said._

“You sure? Your fan club will be so disappointed to hear that.” I said.

_“Heard about that huh?” Clint said._

“I did.” I said. “I also saw a pirate today.”

_“You met Fury.” Clint said._

“Yeah. I’ve gotten the shovel talk from three different people already. One of them even said they had their eye on me.” I said making him laugh.

_“I think I can guess who that was.” He said._

“And you’d probably guess right.” I said. “So why aren’t you dating anyone?”

_“Uh not you too.” Clint said._

“What it’s an honest question?” I said. “It’s not like you don’t have options.”

_“It’s probably the same reason why I didn’t want you to take the job.” Clint said. “I have a lot of baggage.”_

“Everyone has baggage.” I said as I made myself a sandwich.

_“Yeah but most people’s baggage doesn’t involve them being an assassin.” Clint said._

“Girls like bad boys.” I said. “And you’re a lot more than just an assassin. You’re also a total goofball.”

_“Don’t think the other thing is so easy to overlook.” Clint said._

“The right person would.” I said taking a bite of my sandwich. So what’s up with Coulson’s obsession with World War 2?”

_“It’s not WW2 it’s Captain America. Did he show you his trading cards? He’s been working on that set for years.” Clint said._

“That would explain the poster in his office.” I said.

_“Yeah his birthday’s coming up, and I’m in the middle of an Ebay bidding war for miniature replica of Captain America’s bike.” Clint said._

“Just make sure you check the dimensions. You might be buying an actual bike.” I said.

_“Oh… that’s probably why the price went up so much.” Clint said. “Looks like I need to find another gift.”_

“You’ll think of something.” I said. “In the meantime. Are you up for some Halo?”

_“Always.” He said._


	11. Chapter 11

**Three Weeks Later…**

It didn’t take long to get into the swing of things at SHIELD. I was asked to consult on a few thing that came up. Nothing really strange. Just a few modified ray guns and lasers. When I wasn’t working on that I was working on a few side projects. I had finally finished the prototype for Natasha’s new gauntlets and was having her test them out.

“Okay so just point and clench your fist with your thumb in.” I said remembering what she had taught me two weeks ago on the right way to throw a punch. It wasn’t the way they showed in the movies.

Natasha adjusted the gauntlet on her wrist. I noted how much she adjusted it to and made a note to fix that for the final product.

“Alright.” Natasha said lifting her arm and pointing at the target before shooting out the taser dart.

The dart shot out and hit the target. A bit too hard. It went right through the dummy and embedded itself into the concrete wall.

“Hit.” I said.

“A hard hit.” Natasha said.

“I need to adjust that. Give it enough force to push it far enough but not enough to go through someone.” I said as the dummy started pouring out red goo. SHIELD really went the extra mile for training and field tests. Guess they had to considering what the job in the field was. “Was there a kick back?”

“No.” Natasha said.

“No shocks? Anything?” I asked.

“It works. A little too well.” She said.

“Yeah, I’m going to adjust that right now.” I said getting a screw driver to make the slight adjustment. I had to know exactly what to set it as so I could make it permanent on the next model.

“Did you do anything fun last weekend?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah I tried out a new brownie recipe. Cheesecake brownies. They were amazing. Played some street fighter and did laundry.” I said.

“Isn’t that what you do every weekend?” She asked.

“I also worked on this.” I said.

“You need to get out more.” Natasha said.

“I get out plenty.” I said.

“Work doesn’t count.” She said.

“I also go for long runs. That counts.” I said. “And I hang out with Fitzsimmons.”

“So you and Fitz… is that a thing?” Natasha asked.

“Oh no no no. We’re just friends. And he’s totally into Simmons.” I said.

“So you’re not seeing anyone?” Natasha asked.

“Nope.” I said.

“There’s this guy in comms that just started….” She started.

“I don’t think…” I started.

“He’s really nice.” Natasha started.

“I don’t really do blind date… or dates in general.” I said finishing the adjustment and putting it all back together again. “Try it again.”

“Have you ever been on a date?” Natasha pestered on before shooting the target again. It was a hit expect this time the dummy’s head exploded and red goo splattered everywhere.

“Wow!” Clint said as he walked in.

“My bad. I think I adjusted it the wrong way.” I said quickly going to fix it. “I increased the voltage instead of adjusting the force of the sling.”

“I thought you didn’t build weapons?” Natasha teased.

“This is why we always test things before letting you use them in the field.” I said.

“Is that the new gauntlet?” Clint said.

“Yeah.” Natasha said moving her hand and posing as she showed it off. “Custom made.”

“Still a prototype.” I said. “I’ll make sure it matches with the rest of your uniform on the next one.”

“When do I get a new toy?” Clint asked.

“Uh not sure. What do you need upgraded?” I said.

“I put in a request for a new bow months ago.” Clint said.

“They’d probably make you a new one if you didn’t keep breaking them in the testing phase.” Natasha said.

“That’s supposed to happen in the testing phase.” I told her pointing towards the dummy.

“Not by sitting on it. Or spilling coffee on it.” Natasha said.

“You broke it by sitting on it?” I said.

“I thought it was a practice bow.” He said.

“That doesn’t make it any better.” I told him as he set up and started shooting with his bow. I watched Clint shoot a few rounds. He seemed really oddly relaxed as he did. With the amount of force the bow took for the long range shots I was assuming the string was some sort of carbon fiber with high tensile strength but to resist the strain the solid parts had to be some sort of metal. Something that would retain its shape or could…

“Are you done checking out Clint yet?” Natasha said making me blush.

“I was not checking him out. I was admiring the bow. From an engineering standpoint it’s a work of art.” I said.

“Want a closer look?” Clint asked just as my phone started ringing reminding me of the staff meeting I was expected to go to.

“Uh that’s going to have to be another time. I’m late for a staff meeting.” I said quickly helping Natasha take off the gauntlets so I could drop them off at my lab. “I’ll let you know when they’re ready for a final fitting.”

“Okay.” Natasha said. “So about the guy…”

“Bye Nat.” I said walking out.

**Third Person’s POV…**

“What guy were you talking about?” Clint asked once Riley was out of earshot.

“New guy from comms.” Natasha said. “Thought he’d be good for Riley.”

“Nat…” Clint started.

“What? She needs to get out more.” She said.

“She just moved here.” Clint said.

“She moved here weeks ago and just comes here and straight home. She’s 16 she should be having some fun.” Natasha said. “You should too. Lillian from accounting seems nice.”

“Nat.” Clint groaned.

“Or is there another reason you don’t want to date or want Riley to date?” Natasha asked.

“We’re not like that and like you said she’s only 16. Go easy on her.” He said.

“Sure…” Natasha said with a smirk.

**Days Later…**

I was in the lab bored out of my mind playing pinball after I had spent the entire morning reprogramming the game software to work on the holotable. If the floor supervisor, or Captain Fury… I mean Director Fury walked in I would totally be in trouble for it but in the meantime it was totally worth it.

I was about to beat my high score when…

“That looks like fun.” Clint whispered into my ear.

“AH!” I screamed letting the ball fall and losing the game.

“Whoops.” He said.

“Where the hell did you come from?!” I said recovering from the shock.

“Oh I was just avoiding HR and Coulson in the vents and thought I’d stop by and see what you were doing.” Clint said. “These things come with Pinball?”

“Uh no. I got a bit bored and the screen on my phone is to small so I reprogrammed PC pinball for the holotable.” I said.

“Awesome.” Clint said. “How’s it work?”

“It’s easy.” I said moving back to the table. “Place your hands on either side and just move your hands to move the paddles on either side. Make a fist with both your hands and release to launch the ball. Give it a try. I could use some feedback.”

“Sure.” Clint said switching spots with me.

“So not that it’s not great to have you visit but I’m pretty sure this isn’t the best place to hide from Coulson.” I said.

“Yeah I also need a favor. I broke my quiver.” He said.

“You broke it?” I asked confused and trying not to laugh at the word quiver. I don’t even know why I thought that was funny.

“Yeah I jammed in too many arrows and the taser arrowhead sort of set off the exploding arrows and…” Clint said gesturing to the pack he had set down on the lab table. I carefully zipped it open to reveal… I don’t even know what that mess was. It smelled burned and there was this metal leather thing with arrows falling out of it.

“This is your quiver?” I said.

“What’s left of it.” Clint said keeping his eyes on the table.

“How many arrows did you jam into this thing?” I asked.

“Uh… probably more than I should have.” He said. “But I don’t have unlimited ammo and I didn’t pack an extra one so I improvised.”

I looked at it and saw the slots that held each arrow individually. Judging by the size, the quiver couldn’t have held more than two dozen arrows.

“Hate to tell you this but, there is no fixing this mess.” I said.

“Great, I’m going to have to fill our an expense report.” Clint said.

“Paperwork sucks but you still have to do it.” I said looking at his arrows. “So how do these work. You change the arrow heads mid fight?”

“No I screw them on before I leave. I pack what I can mostly keep it simple. I few sharp for… tasers, explosives…” he said.

“And then you just stick them in here and pull them out? How do you know which ones to pull out?” I asked.

“It’s mostly muscle memory.” He said.

“That seems impractical. And risky.” I said setting down the charred remains of the quiver before picking up the arrows.

“This might be my new hiding spot. You ever think about getting air hockey on this thing?” Clint asked.

“I may as well just get an air hockey table.” I said grabbing my tablet and looking through the plans for Clint’s old quiver and his arrows. “Hm… Are you attached to this thing?”

“Not really, as long as it gets the job done.” Clint said.

“Okay…” I said. “I might have some ideas, I’m just going to need a few days to put something together.”

“You mean I get an upgrade?” Clint said.

“We’ll see.” I said discreetly eyeballing his measurements while he played pinball. Considering how often Clint had to get his last quiver replaced I was going to have to come up with something a bit more resistant and while I was at it find a way to make sure his arrows wouldn’t set each other off and blow him up. It was going to be a challenge. I like a challenge.

**Days Later…**

This challenge was turning out to be a lot more complicated than I was expecting. Mostly I had to do a ton of paperwork to get the plans for Clint’s arrowheads. Apparently they were patented so it had to be run up the chain of command.

I should have just hacked their system again.

“Oi… What’s the name of the Disney star that’s living a double life?” Fitz said.

It was our weekly trivia night at the local bar. With a good outfit and the right amount of eyeliner no one ever bothered to ask me for ID. Fitz, Simmons, and I had made it a habit to show up every Wednesday and were currently undefeated.

Cheap wings tasted even better when they were free.

“Uh… That annoying blonde with the rhyming name…” I said knowing which one. “Dakota…Alabama… Montana… Something Montana.”

_“Hannah Montana.”_ Clint said popping up next to me making me cough on the water I was drinking. _“Trivia Night again?”_

“Hannah Montana!” Jemma said.

“Yeah!” I said answering them both _._

_“Everything okay?” I asked Clint._

_“Yeah just wanted to let you know Nat and I were going to be out of town for a bit. Mission.” He said._

_“Oh…. Guessing that’s all you’re allowed to say?” I said._

_“It’s an easy mission. We’ll be back before you know it.” Clint said. “Coulson will still be around so if you need anything…”_

_“Okay… guess I’ll see… talk…. Skype later?” I asked._

_“I’ll check in when I get a chance.” He said. “Stay out of trouble.”_

_“Shouldn’t I be telling you that?” I retorted._

_“You’re at a bar.” Clint said._

_“You get shot at on a regular basis.” I said and he smiled before shaking his head._

_“Halo pizza night when I back?” He asked._

_“You’re on.” I said be disappeared._

“Riley? Hello?” Fitz said.

“Uh… The mighty ducks.” I said randomly.

“What company owned the mighty ducks?” Jemma asked.

“Disney.” I said without a second thought.

“Are you okay?” Jemma asked.

“Fine just zoned out sorry.” I said sipping my water.

“Oh have you signed up for the SHIELD R&D retreat?” Fitz said.

“It is going to be amazing. It’s in Switzerland this year.” Jemma said.

“I didn’t even know that was a thing.” I said.

“Well you have to apply for it first but you’d be a shoe in.” Fitz said.

“As much as I’ve always wanted to go to Europe I’m going to have to pass on that for a few years.” I said and they both just looked at me. “There are limits to emancipation.”

“Oh.” They said in understanding.

“It’s not that great anyway.” Jemma said.

“Just Shield’s best and brightest at a five star resort somewhere talking about work… at least before five… after five…” Fitz started before Jemma kicked his foot under the table.

“Maybe I’ll join you in a few years.” I said. “Lightning round’s about to start.”

So while Clint and Natasha were away I got pulled into a few side projects.. mostly boring cyber security. I actually got assigned to give a seminar to the new recruits coming in from the academy but I got Fitz to cover for me after I developed a patch for sneezy the dwarf that finally got him to work.

It was pretty boring until one day it wasn’t.

I was in my lab after finally getting clearance to looks through the specs of Clint’s arrows when Coulson ran into my lab.

“Riley I need you to come with me right now.” He said looking panicked.

“Whatever it is I didn’t do it.” I said thinking I was about to get thrown in an underground jail cell for hacking Shield.

“Now Riley!” Coulson said ushering me out of the lab.

“What’s going on?” I said.

“We have a situation in comms.” He said.

“Is it….” I said thinking it was Clint or Natasha.

“Their team got ambushed. They’re okay but one of their squad is in a bit of a tight spot.” Coulson said.

“How tight of a spot?” I asked.

“He’s stuck in a sand pit with a missile.” He said.

“That’s tight.” I said. “Doesn’t SHIELD have a bomb squad or a remote control bomb disposal unit?”

“Not on site.” He said as we walked into comms. “You’re the only person that can disarm the missile.”

“Why me?” I asked.

“It’s one of Stark’s.” Coulson said and I froze.

“How…” I said.

“Riley we don’t have time.” He said as we walked to the situation room. “Do we have visual?”

“Agent Barton managed to shoot an arrow with a micro camera closer enough to get us a better look at the situation.” Agent Sitwell said. “And we’ve got Taylor on comms.”

“What do you see?” Coulson asked.

“I can’t really see. The night vision and the way the missile is buried makes it hard to tell which one it is.” I said. “Can’t even see how many

“Get us a comm.” Coulson told one of the agents who quickly handed me and him on. “Agent Taylor this is Agent Coulson we’re working on a way to get you out but our engineer is going to need your help.”

He turned to me and nodded.

“Agent Taylor I’m going to need you to carefully do exactly as I say, okay?” I said.

_“Yes Ma’am.” He answered._

“I need you to slowly and gently move your hand to the missile’s tail and tell me how many fins there are.” I said.

_“A-alright.” He said gently moving his arm was buried under the missile slowly. The whole room got quiet. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. And those seconds felt like hours._

‘Please be four, please be four…’ I thought biting my lip.

“Three.” He said. “I can feel three.”

“The Maverick.” I said closing my eyes trying not to groan and make Taylor panic.

_‘Shit.’ I thought._

_‘Riley?’ Clint said appearing. His face was focused. His eyes looking me over. ‘Coulson called you in?”_

_“Yeah….” I said blocking him as I tried to focus on what was on the screen._

_“The Maverick?” Taylor said. “What does that mean? Is that bad?”_

“No we’re just going to need a sec to come up with a plan. Stay still and try not to let the missile shift okay?” I said.

_“That’s what I’ve been doing.” He said before I signaled for the comms on our end to be muted._

“How bad is it?” Coulson said.

“Bad.” I said. “The missile isn’t a dud. It’s a delayed trigger can be set to go off anytime between thirty seconds to five minutes and has a guaranteed kill radius of ten meters, injury radius of at least twenty.”

“That’s a big radius even for one of Stark’s.” Sitwell said.

“That’s because it’s not designed to kill on impact, It has a built in timer that starts as soon as the missile stops moving. Once that goes off it shoots out shrapnel that travels at 3000 feet per second and during testing went as far as 230 meters.” I said.

“Give the order to have everyone move back to 30 meters. Can you deactivate it?” Coulson asked.

“Maybe?” I said. “It might be that the timer was set to go off later or a fluke but any slight movement could set it off before that.”

“We have to try. You’re going to need to walk Taylor through it.” Coulson said.

“Uh… are you sure there isn’t someone more qualified to do this?” I asked.

“No one here knows Stark’s weapons as well as you do.” He said.

_Well what’s another trauma induced nightmare to an insomniac._

I activated the comm.

“Okay Agent Taylor, I’m going to walk you through how to deactivate the missile.” I said.

“I’ve never done this before.” He said sounding terrified.

“It’s not that hard it’s like playing Operation.” I said and everyone just glared at me. Yeah that was a really bad analogy but I doubt me telling him it was my first time doing this was going to help the situation.

“I really suck at operation.” He said.

“Well I don’t so that’s already one point for us. I’m guessing you have a swiss army knife or something like that on you?” I said.

“I have a bowie?” he said.

“That’ll do it. Is the Stark Industries logo away from you or towards you?” I asked.

“Towards me.” He answered.

“Good. Are you right or left handed?” I asked.

“Right.” He said.

“Alright. Do exactly what I tell you to do. Put the tip of your left ring finger on the top loop of the last s on the logo. Keep your fingers together. Now carefully move your thumb down under the missile you’re going to feel a groove.”

“I feel it.” Taylor said with a shaky breath.

“Follow the groove until you get to something that feels like a coin slot.” I said waiting for him to do as I said.

“I think I got it.” He said.

“Okay this is the tricky part. I need you to take your bowie knife and stick it in there and twist as hard as you can without moving the missile until you hear a click.” I said.

“I don’t think I can do that.” He said. “My knife doesn’t fit. I’m going to set it off.”

“You’re not going to set off the missile. That’s just a latch where the missile launcher holds it in position…” I said lying my ass off. I had no idea if this was going to work. I was reverse engineering that thing off what I remembered from the plans as we went along. “Just take it slow deep breath in. Carefully put it in as far as you can, hold the missile still with your other hand and twist.”

“Mhmmm.” He groaned as he tried to move it before I heard the loud click. “I think I got it.”

“One way to know. Press on the top center panel” I said. He pulled his hand out of the sand and did. The panel popped up opening up the missile. “Lift up the panel and let’s take a look inside.”

On the screen appeared a mess of wires and circuits.

“The blue wires are for the rocket repulsors ignore those.” I said closing my eyes remembering the plans as best I could. “You’re going to have to disconnect the trigger from the timer. There should be a square chip… about an inch and a half big with a green and yellow wire connected to it.”

“Is it green or is it yellow?” He asked.

  
“It’s both,” I answered. It has a bit of yellow at one end where it’s attached to the chip before it turns green.” I said.

“Is attached to a ravioli shaped thing?” Taylor said.

“That would be the chip.” I said. “Follow the wire to the right and it should see a round circuit with a red and a yellow wire attached to it.”

“I can feel it but I can’t see it.” Taylor said. “It feels hot though. Ow that thing shocked me.”

“Why did it shock him?” Coulson said.

“Might be short circuiting or it could be about to detonate.” I said covering my mic. “Taylor where are the wired? On the top and bottom? Left and right?”

“They’re right next to each other. This thing is getting really hot. Is that supposed to happen?” He asked.

“Cut the wire closest to you.” I said.

“I don’t know if that’s the red one.” He said.

“It’s close enough.” I said. “Just cut it fast.”

“I’m trying.” He said struggling before just yanking it out. “I pulled it out? Is that okay?”

“I think so….” I said. “Is the missile getting hotter?”

“No, it’s starting to cool down.” Taylor said.

“Then I’d say it’s safe for you to move now.” I said.

“That’s it?” He asked.

“That’s it.” I said.

“I guess I don’t suck at Operation.” Taylor said making everyone in coms laugh.

“Strike Team move in.” Coulson ordered. “Nice job Riley.”

“How did a Stark Industries missile end up there?” I asked.

“We won’t know until the team arrives and is debriefed.” Coulson said. “You should probably take the rest of the day off. Relax.”

He was totally trying to distract me so I’d stop asking questions.

“You’re not going to tell me anything.” I said.

“It’s above your clearance level. You’ll know when you need to know. Go home.” Coulson said.

“I…” I started arguing.

“That’s an order.” He said.

“Sir yes sir.” I sarcastically before walking out of comms. I was going to keep doing that whenever someone tried ordering me around like that.

_“Riley?”_ Clint said appearing when I walked into my lab. He was dressed in black tactical pants a sleeveless shirt with his finger and arm guards. _“You there?”_

_“Yeah sorry I put you on… hold.” I said checking him over as he sat in one of my desk chairs. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure how accurate the skype projections were but he didn’t look injured which considering he was pretty close to an active shrapnel bomb was a good sign. “I got called in to help disarm a bomb.”_

_“I figured. Thanks for the save.” He said._

_“Don’t Mention it…” I said. “Are you on your way back?”_

_“We’re flying back now. Should be back by morning.” Clint said. “You okay?”_

_“Who shot that missile at you guys?” I asked._

_“I can’t tell you.” Clint said._

_“Clint…” I said._

_“I’m sorry but I can’t.” Clint said._

_“Clint I just disarmed a bomb that only the US armed forces should have access to. I know SHIELD is separate from that but you’re on the same side so I doubt they’d fire at you.” I said. “And Coulson pushed me out of comms as soon as I was done so I know there’s something going on.”_

_“There probably is but I can’t tell you.” Clint said._

_“Can’t or won’t?” I asked._

_“Both.” Clint said. “You’ll find out when you need to know.”_

_“Or they need me to disarm another bomb.” I said going to my desk to grab my things._

_“You’re mad.” Clint said._

_“Nope. Just starting to rethink some of my career decisions.” I said. “I have to go.”_

_“I’ll skype you later.” Clint said before disappearing._

I closed my eyes and sighed before I grabbed my things and headed out. It was still early out and the only people I knew in DC were in the building I had just left for the day so I decided to go to the grocery store pick up a pint of ice cream, chocolate, gummy works… and then some Chinese takeout before crashing on the couch to watch some trashy reality TV.

I was in the middle of watching Lauren complain about how Heidi wronged her… again but I couldn’t get my mind off that missile and then SHIELD was acting all shady which I have no idea why it surprised me considering it was a spy agency and I knew what I was signing up for. And it could have been Clint or Natasha in that sand pit. I had known Clint for my entire life but now I really knew him and he and Natasha had been looking out for me…

I got up and decided now was a good time to bring out the big guns. A pint of Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked.

I took this job because it was a challenge and because I thought I could help people. That and the tech they had was amazing. That holo table had taking my gaming to a new level.

Six months ago I wouldn’t have even considered the job.

Then again I didn’t even want to consider working for Tony and that ended up being the best job I’ve ever had. Well up until now…

I closed the freezer door and saw the photo I had put up there. It was the photo of Tony, Pepper and I that he had insisted on taking to commemorate me installing the update that made Jarvis snarky.

If he could see me right now… Maybe it was a good thing he couldn’t.

If he were here… huh?

If Tony were here…

What would Tony do?

Make a really snarky comment. Annoy the hell out of people to get what he wanted. Maybe buy Shield so he could fired Sitwell… I could see him not liking him. The way he looked at people just rubbed me the wrong way…

But if buying Shield wasn’t an option then he’d probably look for answers and not stop until he got them. It would probably keep him up at night. He’d look everywhere… Hack the NSA and…

Oh.

Hacking SHIELD.

It wouldn’t be the first time I did it. Of course there was a big difference between hacking SHIELD to mark all of my trainings as completed and hacking SHIELD to look through their confidential mission files. If I got caught I could be looking at prison time or worse.

Good thing I wasn’t going to get caught.

I went to my computer and got started creating a VPN, bouncing off the signal around the world until it led to somewhere on Russia before accessing the backdoor I left in case I needed to get back into SHIELD’s mainframe to get myself out of training the academy graduates again.

So that’s how I spent my night. Reading through Shield’s mission OPS.

Turns out that last mission wasn’t the first time Stark Weapons ended up in enemy hands. There were incidents going back almost ten years. And not just in Afghanistan, there was Iraq, Syria, Sokovia… and those were just the confirmed cases.

Before I knew it I was down the rabbit hole of mission and case files. I decided to go up a clearance level to see if there was anything else SHIELD was covering up when I happened to come across two personnel files that caught my eye.

Hawkeye/ Clint Barton

Black Widow/ Natasha Romanoff

Clint and Natasha’s files were right there. All of their missions. Everything they had ever done for SHIELD and even before. One click and I could see them all.

I sat there staring at my computer screen, my finger in the air ready to click that button but I couldn’t.

Was I curious? Definitely.

I had already crossed so many lines as it was one more wouldn’t really be such a big deal… at least not professionally.

What could those files tell me that I didn’t already know?

Clint had always looked out for me. Natasha had seemingly taken me under her wing. I’m pretty sure she was the one that had come into my apartment and sorted my clothes so I always wore the perfect outfit. I was also pretty sure she borrowed my cute sandals and one of my jackets…

Everyone has a past and theirs led them to be who they were today which was two awesome super spy/assassins. They were entitled to their privacy and if one day they wanted to tell me about it then that was their choice but for now it was going to stay closed. I went back to the main files to see if there was anything I had missed during my first look when my phone started ringing.

It was my morning alarm. I had been up all night.

_“Morning”_ Clint said popping up behind me.

“Ah! Shit!” I said jumping a bit.

_“Sorry, did I wake you?”_ He asked.

“No Just wasn’t expecting you to pop up.” I said quickly getting out of SHIELD’s system and covering my tracks before closing my computer.

_“Were you up all night?”_ Clint said coming closer and looking at me.

“Yeah, that sugar high really kept me up.” I said.

_“Then I probably shouldn’t have brought donuts.” He said._

“What?” I said.

_“I’m outside your door.” He said._

I got up and went to open the door. Sure enough Clint was standing there holding a pink dox of donuts and two coffees.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Hey.” I said stepping aside so he could come in. “I’m kind of surprised you didn’t use the fire escape.”

“I thought about it but I didn’t want to spill the coffee.” He said handing me a cup.

“Good call.” I said putting my laptop aside.

“I thought we should talk about…” he started.

“We don’t have to.” I said.

“We should…” Clint started.

“Clint. It’s fine. It’s above my clearance level and I’m probably better off not knowing.” I said and he just gave me a look and stayed quiet for a minute looking me in the eye.

“Did someone say something to you?” Clint asked.

“Nope.” I said sipping my coffee.

“So you’re dropping this? Just like that?” He said eying skeptically.

“I don’t work for Stark Industries, and Tony’s… not around anymore so it’s not my problem.” I said.

“Right…” Clint said totally not believing me. “Then what were you working on all of last night?”

“Paperwork.” I said. “I had a ton of expense reports I was behind on and I couldn’t sleep so I figured I should just get it over with.”

“Okay.” Clint said before eyeing my laptop. “Hey do you mind if I borrow your laptop really quick. I need to email Coulson my mission report.”

“Sure.” I said passing it to him. He was going to check to see what I was doing and browser history. As if I would be that sloppy.

Clint opened my laptop and quickly got on it typing away looking through things as discreetly as possible. When he couldn’t find anything he closed the laptop and handed it back to me.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about it? I know it really bothered you.” Clint said.

“No, I thought about it and decided to leave it alone.” I said.

“Well for what’s it’s worth if you did want to look for answers I wouldn’t stop you.” Clint said.

“Good to know.” I said grabbing a sugar twist donut and pulling a bit off. It was quiet for a minute.

“You already hacked SHIELD didn’t you?” Clint said.

“Yeah.” I said.

“I owe Nat an expensive bottle of Vodka.” Clint sighed. “So you know.”

“I know. Guess I know the real reason SHIELD wanted to recruit me now.” I said.

“That’s not why they wanted you. I mean it was a big part of it but you were on their radar before you started working for Tony.” Clint said.

“That bomb was the first test he ever gave me.” I said Clint said looking at me confused. “Tony. He called it the Maverick. I told him that thing was going to end up getting banned and he’d have an amendment to the Geneva Conventions named after him. He’d be so pissed his he knew what was happening.”

“Stark was good at his job.” Clint said. “Too good.”

“Yeah.” I said before I saw the time and got out of my chair. “I should start getting ready for work.”

“No, you should go get some sleep. You’ve been up all night.” He said.

“I’ll be fine. A shower and another cup of coffee and I’ll be ready to go.” I said.

“I don’t think they’ll mind if you want to take the day off. I mean you disarmed a live bomb yesterday.” He said.

“Not the first time I take apart a bomb. Besides if they end up finding more I’d rather be around just in case.” I said.

“Okay. Guess I’ll see you tomorrow? Halo?” He said.

“We could do it tonight?” I offered.

“No. you need sleep and I’m pretty jetlagged too.” Clint said. “I also have to go through another psych eval and that’s probably going to take all day.”

“I wouldn’t want to trade places with you.” I said as my phone rang. “Oh… the parts I ordered got delivered can finally start putting together a prototype.”

“You mean my prototype?” Clint asked.

“Yeah.” I said before his phone started ringing.

“It’s Nat. She wants a spar session before her Psych eval.” He said. “Has some things she wants to work through.”

“You’re going to be sore later.” I said.

**Days Later…**

I had just gotten home from work when my cell phone started ringing. I was juggling two bags for groceries while trying to get my door open.

“Ah crap.” I said leaning against the door holding the bags up and held my phone in between my cheek and shoulder. “Hello?”

“Riley! Oh my god!” Pepper said crying.

“Pepper? Are you okay?” I said.

“It’s Tony.” She said sobbing.

_Oh fuck it’s happening…_

_“Riley?” Clint asked appearing._

_“Pepper’s on the phone. Something happened with Tony. I think they found….him.” I said._

_“Just let her tell you.” Clint said with a knowing look before disappearing._

All I could hear was Pepper crying.

“Pepper what’s going on?” I asked dreading what was coming.

“It’s Tony. They found Tony!” Pepper said. “He’s alive. Tony’s alive.”

“T-they found him?” I said dropping my bags on the ground. “H-he’s…”

“He’s coming home.” Pepper said.

“Shit!” I said still in shock and without realizing it I started crying.

“I know!” Pepper said still crying. “Rhodey’s with him right now. They’re flying back and they should be back here in LA tomorrow.”

“That’s… he’s really coming back?” I asked still not believing it.

“He is.” She cried. “I… I have to get the house ready and… the press and… do you need me to get you a plane ticket?”

“I… I think I’m going to have to get back to you on that.” I said. “Just…work and… honestly I think I’m still in shock.”

“I know I can’t stop crying.” Pepper said.

“I dropped my groceries and I think I broke the eggs.” I said laughing and Pepper laughed on the other side of the line.

“I’ll keep you updated okay?” Pepper said.

“Yeah and thanks for letting me know.” I said.

“Of course.” Pepper said before hanging up.

Shit… I guess miracles do happen.

**The Following Day…**

As soon as I got the call, it was like the world had just completely turned upside down but at the same time it hadn’t.

Tony was back and as happy as I was to have my best friend/ mentor back that didn’t change the fact that I worked for SHIELD, that I had a life here in DC. That Clint was here. And to top it all off there was the whole issue of terrorists getting their hands on Stark industry weapons.

“Uh…” I groaned after I parked my car in the Triskelion’s parking structure. I was going in circles. I mean what do I do.

Tony was going to touch down in LA in an hour or so and I wanted to talk to him but what do I say. How do you tell a guy who was spent his entire life building weapons and got held hostage by terrorists for three months that his life’s work had somehow fallen into the hands of said terrorists and that this had been going on for a decade maybe even more…

Add to that the people I was currently working for know about it and are investigating it but they don’t know I know and…

“Ah!!” I groaned.

_“You’re still going at it?” Clint said appearing in the seat next to me._

“I can’t stop thinking about it.” I said.

_“Riley you’re going in circles. Just take a break. Focus on work or just focus on the fact that your friend’s back.” He said._

“How am I supposed to talk to Tony and not tell him this? Next time he randomly tells me about this cool new missile he built do I just not tell him about how it might end up in terrorist hands?” I retorted.

_“SHIELD’s on it. We don’t know the whole story yet. Just wait it out.” Clint said._

“I hope you’re right.” I said getting out of the car and heading to the staff break room to get my mid morning pre lunch dose of caffeine.

I walking out of the elevator when my phone started ringing.

“Crap…” I said juggling to get my phone out of my bad while juggling my coffee, tablet and purse. “Go for Sloane.” I answered without checking the caller ID. I had gotten used to answering with just my last name because that’s what everyone here did.

“You moved to DC?” Tony greeted.

“Hey stranger. Welcome back to the world of the living. How was Afghanistan?” I asked before cringing that was probably the worst thing to ask a guy that had been kidnapped and held against his will in a cave for three months.

“It could have gone better.” Tony said. “Don’t change the subject. I know I’ve been gone a while but you moved to DC to work for a thinktank? A government think tank with suits? You hate suits.”

Thinktank? Oh right that was the cover SHIELD had put together for me to tell people.

“Well it was this or building missiles so…” I said.

“Yeah…” Tony cleared his throat. “Well I’m back and I’m sending the jet to pick you up. It’s coming from New York so it should be in DC in…”

_“One hour.” Pepper answered._

“One hour. See you when you get here.” Tony said.

“What? Tony I can’t go to LA? I have work and…” I said.

“So quit? I’m back, your apartment’s here waiting for you. We’ve got work to do.” He said.

“Tony I’m actually in the middle of a project, if you can give me a few days…” I said.

“Riley. You were right and I was wrong.” He said and I was confused. What was I right about? Not wanting to go to Afghanistan? Even before the kidnapping I was right but Tony would never admit that. The man had a huge ego and even if he admitted he was wrong he would never say it like that.

“I’m sorry did you just say…” I said still in disbelief.

“I did and now Pepper really wants to take me to the hospital. I’m not going. Don’t give me that look.” Tony said and I could picture the look she was giving him. “Kid I need you here.”

I sighed. I knew if I saw him I probably wasn’t going to be able to keep this from him but at the same time I knew that my friend needed me.

“I need to take care of some things here first but I’ll see you in a few hours.” I said.

“I’ll send a car.” Tony said. “Now I have a press conference to get to.”

“Press conference?” I said but he had already hung up.

I got out of the elevator and went to my lab only for one of the interns to walk in right behind me and tell me Coulson wanted to see me immediately.

So there I had to walk across the Triskelion to Coulson’s office.

“You wanted to see me?” I said as I walked in.

“We did.” Nick Fury said popping up out of nowhere. Were there trap doors installed in the building so he could pop up and surprise people?

“Sir?” I greeted but it came out as more of a question.

“Take a seat Miss Sloane. We have much to discuss.” Fury said.

“I’m guessing now’s a really bad time to ask for time off?” I said as Fury closed the door to Coulson’s office.


End file.
